Putumayo's first holiday collection, A Putumayo World Christmas, reminded us that the vast majority of people who celebrate the Nativity are more likely to have an incipient sunburn nipping at their noses than Jack Frost. Over the centuries, warm-weather cultures have developed a variety of lovely and highly individual holiday traditions. But musicians from Central and South America and the Caribbean also draw upon our shared European and post-colonial heritage, thus gracing familiar carols and seasonal pop songs with an enchanting tropical spin. Cha-chas, rumbas, and steel bands rock the house from Advent to El Dio de los Reyes (Festival of the Three Wise Men, or Epiphany) in countries where religious devotion often includes a cooking rhythm section and dancing goes to church. The set list includes a quartet of charming North American tracks, but the mood is predominantly south-of-the-border: festive, serene, exalted, danceable, and very beautiful. --Christina Roden |
