From its humble beginnings in 1970 as a free concert for a few hundred locals, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has grown into one of the world's largest music gatherings, each spring drawing hundreds of thousands from all over the world. Jazzfest, as it's known locally, has both stimulated and reflected out-of-state interest in Louisiana music. It was once a rarity for Cajun, zydeco and second-line R&B acts to ever leave the state; now dozens of them make the circuit of baby-boomer, roots-music dance clubs. Most of that exponential growth has occurred in the last 10 years, and Rounder Records, which made a major commitment to Louisiana music in the mid-'80s, has reaped the benefit of the scene's growing popularity. Here the Boston indie label celebrates its own prescience with a two-CD anthology. Despite the title, most of the tracks were recorded within the last 10 years, but they cover a lot of ground-from the old-fashioned brothel piano of Tuts Washington to the funky brass arrangements of the Rebirth Brass Band, from the ancient Cajun song styles of David Doucet to the hip-hop-influenced zydeco of L'il Brian and the Zydeco Travelers. The first CD or "City Disc" focuses on 14 New Orleans artists, ranging from such late piano masters as Champion Jack Dupree and James Booker to such smooth soul crooners as Dalton Reed and Chuck Carbo. The second CD or "Country Disc" presents 18 Cajun and zydeco acts from French Louisiana, including such well known names as D. L. Menard and Buckwheat Zydeco as well as such emerging talents as Geno Delafose and Bruce Daigrepont. [+]

Nankuru Naisa is the second joint product by Takashi Hirayasu and Bob Brozman and it takes their collaboration into beguiling new territories. Jin Jin, their first album, was a tentative bridging of the East-West divide but this disc pulls the enterprise firmly onto Takashi's home ground in Okinawa. And as those who have heard The Rough Guide to the Music of Okinawa will know, this southern tip of Japan, which blends Asian and Pacific cultures, has a unique musical style. Takashi's vocal tone is light and open-qualities which are reflected in the way he plays his sanshin (Okinawa's soft-toned banjo). Brozman's contribution-aided by fellow musicians from California-is a huge variety of string effects, some drivingly energetic, some creating a warm, enveloping wash of sound. The songs reflect Takashi's pilgrimage to California and then back home: his wide-eyed response to the New World and his intense nostalgia for family, friends and the sights and sounds of his home island, where life really is a beach. His ballad singing is quintessentially Okinawan-in this voice you hear the voices of generations before. -Michael Church.

What do you know of the island of Reunion, which lies west of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean? Little, probably, beyond the fact that its local people produce sugar, and that rich tourists bask in the sun. If you listen to Digdig, you'll get a whole new perspective: what that globe-trotting guitarist Bob Brozman has done in this particular collaboration is to celebrate an intoxicating musical style entirely different from any other. His musical guru here is the multi-talented René Lacaille, who moves effortlessly between the guitar, accordion, and sundry percussion instruments as well as singing the local ballads; what these two musicians get up to together has irresistible charm. Their duets are fast and fluent, and when backed by Lacaille's percussionist go at a dizzy pace. As befits an island with global links, there are echoes of many other musics here-French, Latin-American, Arab, Portuguese-but they all combine into a gloriously heady brew. The songs seem casually tossed off like improvisations, but you can sense the intricate work which has gone into these dazzling instrumental tracks. This CD is seriously addictive. -Michael Church.