VA - Putumayo Presents: Music From The Coffee Lands 1 & 2 (1997/2001)

The artists gathered together here hail from nations and cultures noted for the growing and export of coffee. As with this CD's companion release, Music from the Tea Lands, one senses the possibility of lucrative product tie-ins, but part of the proceeds from the album are earmarked for charity and any catchy idea that gets the music out there is a good thing. Like the luscious drink itself, the tunes come in many intensities and flavors, ranging from a light-as-air ditty from Peru, to the more complex vocal stylings of Colombia's Claudia Gomez, to Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca's earthy Afro-Cuban Congolese rumba. The album is a lively and fascinating travelogue, making landfall in Cuba, Kenya, Brazil, Uganda, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Costa Rica, Hawaii, and Peru. As with many other Putumayo projects, aside from its musical pleasures, this set would make an entertaining and educational experience for younger family members. --Christina Roden

Fortunately for the Putumayo label, the nations that grow coffee also produce some of the best music on the planet. Otherwise, we might have something as unattractive as Songs from the Linseed-Oil-Processing Countries instead of this savory disc. Marketing devices aside, there is undeniable romance to a cup of fine coffee, and compiler Jacob Edgar superbly captures that mild but heady exotica in songs from Central and South America, Africa, and Asia. The Dominican Republic's Titico y Los Caracoles del Amargue brew a spicy mug of bachata with popping guitar lines and conch-shell "trumpet" parts. Mexico's Correo Aero bring a lush harp lead and a definite high-altitude feel to the Venezuelan traditional song "Fiesta Lianera." Ex-3 Mustaphas 3 bass man and vocalist Sabah Habbas Mustapha joins forces with Java's Jugala All-Stars for a cosmopolitan romp blending Sudanese instruments (including the haunting suling flute) and Congolese bass and drum patterns. Though not well known for caffeinated drinks, Martinique enjoys fame for its Creole pop. Wielding his trademark banjo, Martinican Kali hitches a gentle reggae bounce to local sensibilities on "Monte la Rivie," a song about finding the source of the river of life. Nicely documented with liner notes that even contain coffee drink recipes, Music from the Coffee Lands II is good to the last cut. --Bob Tarte