by ERNEST A. JASMIN

(Excerpt)  “You may not realize it, but you’re hearing world music in commercials,” says Dan Storper, founder of Putumayo, the record label sponsoring the “Women of Latin America” showcase. “Now almost every Hollywood movie not only has one but several world music songs in it.”

…The Internet and other mass media have sent the rate at which the world’s musical styles cross-pollinate one another into hyperdrive. And in the new millennium, “world music” has come to signify everything from the traditional Latin sounds of Toto La Momposina, Mariana Montalvo and Belo Velloso – the main attractions of “Latinas: Women of Latin America,” a showcase scheduled for Nov. 22 at the Rialto Theater and Nov. 23 at Seattle’s Moore Theatre – to East Indian flavored techno and African hip-hop.

What: “Putumayo: Latinas – Women of Latin America”

When & where: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 22 at the Rialto Theater, 310 S. Ninth St., Tacoma; 7:30 p.m. Nov. 23 at the Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave., Seattle

Tickets: $22.50 to $35 for the Rialto show, $30 for the Moore show

Information: Ticketmaster (253-627-8497 in Tacoma, 206-628-0888 in Seattle or www.ticketmaster.com)