World music has never sounded as good as it does with Putumayo at the helm in releasing some of the most diverse and beautiful albums to ethnic music aficionados. While Putumayo has a formidable reputation in fostering the talents of otherwise little-known artists from various locales around the globe, it is the studio’s compilation CD’s that prove to be the most accessible to average fans.

The beauty of the compilation CD’s relates to the ability of listeners to zero in on a certain country or genre of world music, sampling some of the best from a large sampling instead of limiting to one or a handful of artists. This month’s Putumayo compilations are top-notch, with plenty of mass appeal associated with “Nuevo Latino” and more specialized tastes covered by “Greece: A Musical Odyssey,” and “Women of Africa.”

But my favorite Putumayo disc of the month is from Putumayo Kids, titled “Sing Along with Putumayo for Kids.” Not only does the CD introduce the young ones to the styling of world music, but it throws in a dollop of the blues for good measure, with Keb’ Mo’ on “Love Train” and Taj Mahal on “Don’t You Push Me Down.” Even folk music makes an appearance with Arlo Guthrie’s “Bling-Blang.”

For world music releases, one rarely need look any further than Putumayo’s monthly CD titles. In the case of its excellent compilations, Putumayo’s quality is top-notch. With the more recent of Putumayo Kids to the associated labels, now the young ones can receive a wonderful introduction to world music, folk, and even the blues.

Putumayo Kids - Sing Along With Putumayo

From Putumayo Kids, this "Sing Along with Putumayo" CD offers a delightfully fresh (and kid-friendly!) mix of blues and folks songs. Each song is a unique jewel, with famous artists such as Arlo Guthrie, Keb' Mo, Taj Mahal, Rosie Flores all lending their considerable musical talents to the album. Songs include "Old MacDonald Had a Farm", "Bling Blang", "Bellybutton Song", "Don't you Push me Down", "You are my Sunshine", and more. Equally fun are the colorful liner notes with song lyrics, cultural facts, notes about each artist, and translations into English, Spanish, and French. With song lyrics included, singing along is easy but just listening is fine too. Part of Putumayo's nationally acclaimed and award-winning series of children's CDs.