VARIOUS ARTISTS: Putumayo Presents Jazz World

Putumayo World Music is to international music what Alligator is to blues or Blue Note to jazz: The gold standard. With their brightly colored album covers and their selection of artists from every corner on the globe, these releases are like taking a global cruise via your stereo system or iPod.

The latest, Jazz World, has a few nice jazz tracks and then a bunch of great music that could best be described as jazz-adjacent. There is samba from Brazil, fado from the Cape Verde islands, and cabaret and folk from Colombia and Argentina.

The purest bit of jazz is found on the opening track by French Canadian singer-songwriter Lauma. Backed by small combo, which features both acoustic and electric guitar, and a tenor sax. Lauma has a deep, earthy singing voice, and a delivery that bounces just a touch behind the beat. Her lyrics are in French, which to these non-Francophone ears only gives this delightful little song another layer of charm.

The second song, “Eu Vim da Bahia,” is sung by Brazilian jazz singer Nay Porttela. Her take on Gilberto Gil’s composition is charming and sunny.

The album closes out with a bit of gypsy jazz by Dotschy Reinhardt, who, as the packaging hints, just may be related to the great Django Reinhardt. Performed at a much slower pace than Django was known for, the Romani beat still marks the languid performance. Dotschy has a sweet, rich voice, and a sympathetic combo backing her.

Of the other seven songs, one of the most fetching is from L.A.-based Spanish guitarist Diego Garcia, who performs under the stage name Twanguero. The stage name is very intentional, with a definitive twang to his picking—think a bit of Duane Eddy blended with Chet Atkins over a slowly percolating Spanish rhythm.

Ricardo Lemvo could be the poster child for the musical heritage of Putumayo. He was born in Angola, raised in the Congo, and fell in love with Cuban music before moving to the United States. His contribution here is a smoldering torch medley of two separate boleros, one Cuban one Congolese.

Another highlight is a duet between Cape Verdean legend Nancy Vieira and traditional Portuguese singer António Zambujo. It’s almost a song in the round, as the two sing not in harmony, nor in a call and response, but in circles around each other.

There are no bad tracks here—just another 10 sublime songs by artists most Americans would never encounter were it not for Putumayo’s producers and curators.