seek out the putumayo label for excellent caribbean/latin/african music. salif keita & youssou n'dour are among many great african singers. also try king sunny ade & chief commander ebeneezer obey. here's some great albums: bourbon & rosewater, w/vishwa mohan bhatt & jerry douglas - indian/american roots guitar, on water lily acoustics label; mondo beat - masters of percussion, on the narada label - lotsa great *world* percussion; mumtaz mahal - w/n. ravikiran, taj mahal, v.m. bhatt - more indian/american roots strings, on water lily acoustics label; manu dibango - wakafrika - world pop, on giant label; afro-cuban all-stars, on world-circuit/nonesuch label; olatunji! drums of passion, on columbia; steve riley & the mamou playboys - cajun, on rounder records; tito puente & eddie palmieri - masterpiece - latin, on rmm records; skip, hop, & wobble - bluegrass w/jerry douglas, russ barenberg & edgar meyer, on sugar hill records; ali farka toure w/ry cooder - talking timbuktu, african/american roots music, on rykodisc records; nusrat fateh ali khan & michael brook - night song - arab/african music (incredible synth-bass), on realworld records; taj mahal & toumani diabate - kulanjan - african/american roots music, on hannibal/rykodisc records. for celtic, try the chieftains, & the shanachie record label. also, the buena vista social club, (cuban) produced by ry cooder, is excellent, especially on vinyl! ;~) this is yust a taste! :>) regards, doug
