«When many Americans hear the term "Caribbean music," they tend to think of calypso, soca, and steel drums. But technically, music of the Caribbean also includes everything from Afro-Cuban salsa, Dominican merengue, and Puerto Rican plena to Jamaican ska and reggae. If any label can be counted on to have an eclectic, broad-minded approach to Caribbean music, it's Putumayo; and sure enough,

«Paranda is a musical tradition of the Garifuna, whose ancestry can be traced to West Africans (Ibo, Yoruba, and Ashanti tribes) and the Arawak Indians of the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean. Today the Garifuna live in Belize, where they established communities in 1802 after being first exiled to Honduras from their native St. Vincent, then fleeing Honduras to escape a civil war. Paranda

«Following in the footsteps of the legendary Parranderos from the Caribbean coast of Central America, with an enchanting blend of African and Latin acoustic roots, Aurelio emerges as one of the most exceptional Garifuna artists of his generation. Acclaimed for both his preservation and modernization of the Paranda musical tradition, Aurelio's virtuosity is found in his distinctive, penetrating

«This is the first comprehensive single-disc collection of the various popular and folk styles from the Central American region of the world. Included on this album's 17 selections are representative tunes of the styles of Guatemala (marimba), Belize (brukdown), Nicaragua (trova), Honduras (punta), and countless variations incorporating reggae, salsa, son, cumbia, and local styles. The performers