Arts Beat by Barry Bassis

Putumayo, the outstanding world music label has another superb collection, “Women of Latin America.”

            As usual, there is colorful artwork on the cover and in the informative booklet, which has photos and brief bios of each singer and a description of each Spanish or Portuguese song.  The chief asset is the album, which introduces the listener to 11 distinctive singers: Lila Downs, the Mexican-American singer featured in the film “Frida,” the Afro-Peruvan Susana Baca, Brazil’s Adriana Calcanhotto, Monica Salmaso and Belo Velloso (who sings a charming salute to Bahian culture) plus Jaqueline Fuentes and Mariana Montalvo (who sings the lilting “India Song”) from Chile, Peru’s Tania Libertad, Mexican-American Lhasa and Colombians Toto La Momposina and Marta Gomez (who contributes the lovely children’s song “La Ronda”).

            The label is performing another valuable service by presenting three of these artists in concert at Symphony Space (95^th St. and Broadway; 212-864-5400) on October 12 – Mariana Montalvo, Belo Velloso (the niece of Caetano Velloso and Maria Bethania) and Toto La Momposina.

            The Afro-Peruvian singer Eva Ayllon has been a star in her native country for 30 years.

            The reason is apparent from her new CD, her first produced in the U.S., “Eva! Leyenda Peruana” (on Times Square Records).  Ayllon sings in Spanish with an alto voice that resembles Rosemary Cloomey’s with a more percussive style.

            The first song is entitled, “Presumptuous black lady” and the lyrics contain references to the African heritage of many Peruvians. The music generally takes the form of dances:  the lando, the festejo, and the vals (the waltz, transformed into an African, Indian and Spanish blend).  The guitar styles alternate between flamenco and Andean mountain music, while the cajon – a wooden percussio box thought to be derived from an agricultural crate – transfers African rhythms to Latin America. 

            This music has much of the same appeal as Cuban music and should attract as large an audience, especially when presented by such a powerful artist.  On October 15^th, Ayllon will appear at Town Hall (123 W. 43^rd St.; 212-840-2824).