Over the years the excellent ARC Music label has provided a wealth of world music recordings from Latin America. This inexpensive sampler disc includes tracks from 15 of their CDs, and comes together as a valuable snap-shot of a continent-and-a-half's musical roots. Every song has vital music textures and infectious rhythms, and the diversity of the music keeps one from the bane of some Latin discs: the sameness of only a few types of music. Highlights for me include the two Brazilian tracks, the Samba of the Carioca Grupo Raca and the Forro from Banda Mapsom in the country's north-east. I also loved the traditional El Gavilan from Venezuela's De Norte a Sur, the slightly overblown Sol del Paraguay by Oscar Benito, and Kausay Chasqui by Sacambaya de Bolivia, who bring a bit of a gaucho feel to the Andean music. All together you get an hour of authentic music, and a really really good time!
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