Putumayo: Festa Brasil;

This collection focuses on the relationship between Jamaican reggae and Brazilian music--particularly the accordion-driven forró style popular in Brazil's Northeastern states. Lazzo's "Sim/Nao" is notable for its stylistic references to Booker T. and Toots & the Maytals, while Pepeu Gomes's "Sexy Yemanja" makes unusual use of a pedal steel guitar. (Think New Riders of the Purple Sage meet King Sunny Ade in a government yard in Trenchtown.) Other forró-based artists include Ale Muniz, Rita Ribeiro, Saldanha Rolim and Chico César, while DiDa Banda Feminina, Ivete Sangalo and Gal Costa represent Bahia, the musical heart of Afro-Brazilian culture. Most of the tracks on Festa Brasil are relatively unexceptional in themselves. But, like its Putumayo predecessor, Brasileiro, it adds up to a terrific party album. --Rick Mitchell