It’s a Putumayo Christmas

To start off with, a reggae version of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” by Jacob Miller. Miller does a great fun version of the song by replacing various words, like “merry” with “ire” (a Jamaican term for good). I believe this song was taken from his 1978 album, Natty Christmas (which was re-issued in 2007 by VP Records).

My favorite track is “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” by Keahiwai. I instantly knew they were Hawaiian based on the laidback rhythm and the distinctive sound of the ukulele.

With such distinctive versions, like a Cuban version of “Winter Wonderland” by Jose Conde, a Brazilian “Deck the Halls” (retitled as “Alegria”) by Maria de Barros, a New Zealander’s version of “Santa Clause is Coming To Town” (retitled as “Kei Te Haere Mai A Hana Koko”) by H.K. Crew feat. K11NA, etc., it’s really hard to pass up this album if you love world music.

If you look at the track listing below and think “I don’t know any of these musicians”, hey, no problem! All Putumayo releases comes with extensive booklets that lists brief biography on each of their artists (written in English, French, and Spanish). Plus recipes!

The album finishes with an instrumental version of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” by Ed Calle with Arturo Sandoval. The brass sound reminds me of Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass (they didn’t do this song off their 1968 album, Christmas Album, but I suspect it would sound very similiar to Ed Calle’s version).

After I browsed around the Putumayo’s website, I noticed that you can get $10 off if you spend $50 by using the keyword “GIFT”. So, in case you needed other suggestions to try and take advantage of the Christmas deal, below are two more recent Putumayo’s releases.

PUTUMAYO PRESENTS: YOGA This is a mostly Eastern type of music, and designed as a really soothing, relaxing music. Most of the vocals on this album are women, and they sound so cosmic sometime that I think DJs would love to get a hold of these tracks and put beats to them. Strong tracks include “Ghungate Ke” and “Purnamadah”. Tracks: 1 Lucknow Project • Ghungate Ke 2 Sean Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band • Om Hari Om/Sharanam Ganesha (Refuge) 3 Shantala • Purnamadah 4 Wah! • Bolo Ram 5 Ben Leinbach & Geoffrey Gordon • Cerulean 6 Karnamrita Dasi • Devaki 7 Niraj Chag • Bangles 8 Amounsulu • El Bosque Eterno de los Niños 9 Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits • Moods Of Kirtan 10 Susheela Raman • O Rama 11 Krishna Das • Hanuman Baba 12 Ablaye Cissoko & Volker Goetze • Sira 13 Lama Gyurme & Jean-Philippe Rykiel • Offering Chant 14 Yogini • Bliss I don’t practice yoga, but reading the liner notes are by yoga instructor (and musician), Sean Johnson, he does a wonderful job on explaining yoga terms. If you are looking for a really calm background music for yoga or mental relaxation, this is the perfect album for you.

PUTUMAYO PRESENTS: TRIBUTE TO A REGGAE LEGEND Celebrating Bob Marley’s music, this is a must-have for any reggae fan. What makes this even more extraordinary is that appearing on this compilation are five brand new recording, especially for this release. This is a big deal, because this is the first time that Putumayo produced these new original tracks. My favorite’s Brazilian Ceu’s version of “Concrete Jungle” (note her vocal beat-box at the beginning of the song). Tracks: 1 Three Plus (Hawaii) • Is This Love 2 Robi Kahakalau (Hawaii) • Do It Twice 3 Rebelution (USA) • Natural Mystic 4 Caracol (Canada) • Could You Be Loved 5 Céu (Brazil) • Concrete Jungle 6 Rocky Dawuni (Ghana) • Sun Is Shining 7 Freshlyground (South Africa) • Africa Unite 8 Northern Lights (USA) • Waiting In Vain 9 Julie Crochetière (Canada) • Mellow Mood 10 Funkadesi (USA/India) • Real Situation 11 Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars (Sierra Leone) • No Woman No Cry 12 Playing for Change (International) • One Love New tracks are: Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars’s “No Woman No Cry”, Freshlyground’s “Africa Unite”, Caracol’s “Could You Be Loved”, Rebelution’s “Natural Mystic”, and Rocky Dawuni’s “Sun Is Shining”.