By Paul Denison   

So whose bright idea was this, to pack up three Latina singers who were born way south of the border and send them on a cross-country U.S. tour in the fall, just as blustery weather sets in?

In a brief telephone interview in mid-October, just eight days into a 14-state, 29-concert tour, Chilean singer Mariana Montalvo already has a worrisome cold. Even so, she's enthusiastic about the tour, which will come to the Hult Center on Sunday.

This is the first time that Putumayo World Music has staged a major U.S. tour to promote one of its new albums. "Women of Latin America," released in September, is the most recent in a Putumayo series featuring female artists. Previous collections include "Women of Africa," "Women of the World: Celtic," "Women of Spirit" and "Women's Work."

"I've long felt that female artists often have exquisite voices and that they have tended to be underrepresented in the world of music," Putumayo CEO Dan Storper says.

Although much of the music in Putumayo compilations has been recorded for other labels, Storper says, "We're especially happy to find unsigned artists who are little known even in their own country and introduce them to people who appreciate their music."

So how's the Latinas tour going?

"It's very nice," Montalvo says. "I'm astonished, well not astonished, but very happy, at the reaction of the American audiences. After all, we're not very well known here. But the reception has been wonderful. I'm very happy."

Storper says the Latinas tour, created in cooperation with Columbia Artists Management, is coming to Eugene "because it's both a college town and has an interesting cultural arts scene," plus supportive local retailers and radio stations.

Putumayo uses nontraditional retail outlets along with mainstream distributors. In this area, for example, outlets include Jambo, Greater Goods, Swahili Imports, Aqua Serene and Wild Oats in addition to the more traditional Borders and CD World.

Although the Latinas tour is designed to promote the album, right now it's the other way around. The album is the tour's best promotional device.

"Women of Latin America" has 11 tracks, featuring singers from Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Peru and Mexico. Musical styles represented include Afro-Peruvian lando, nueva canción, MPB (music popular Brasileira), Afro-Brazilian, bossa nova, ranchera and cumbia.

The French connection

Although the Latinas tour actually includes more male than female musicians, the stars are singers Totó La Momposina (Colombia), Belô Velloso (Brazil) and Montalvo, who was born in Chile but has lived in Paris since the military coup of 1973.

In Chile, Montalvo performed with a junior folkloristic group at age 8. She later took part in high school theatricals, but she was too young to perform professionally.

Montalvo now sings all over Europe. In most countries she sings only in Spanish, but she adds "one French song" to programs in her adopted country.

"India Song," Montalvo's contribution to the Putumayo Latinas album, sounds suspiciously French in its phrasing. That's because it is a French song, Montalvo says, laughing.

It was written by an Argentinian composer for a French film. She translated it into Spanish and "Latinized" it.

How can a Latina singer who's lived in France for more than 30 years make a living singing only in Spanish?

"In France there are many big world music festivals," Montalvo explains. Putumayo discovered her at one of them, in Cannes.

Putumayo released Montalvo's album "Cantos del Alma." Her latest album "Piel de Aceituna," came out in September on the Harmonia Mundi label.

Montalvo says that before the tour began, she had never met either Velloso or La Momposina, although she knew the latter by reputation and had some of her recordings.

La Momposina hails from Mompos Island in Colombia's Magdalena River, where the cultures of native Indians and escaped African slaves merged. Her track on the Latinas album is "Yo Me Llama Cumbia," an arrangement of Colombian composer Mario Gareña's tribute to the country's traditional rhythm.

Velloso, the youngest singer on the Putumayo tour, is the niece of Caetano Velloso and Maria Bethânia, two well-known names in Brazilian popular music. She grew up in Bahia, a region profoundly influenced by African culture. Her contribution to the Putumayo CD is "Toda Sexta-Feira," described in the liner notes as "a love letter to the people of Bahia."

Putumayo's progress

Putumayo began as a retail handicrafts shop, named for a Colombian river and valley that Storper visited in 1974 after majoring in Latin American studies at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. The shop opened in 1975. Storper launched the record label in 1993.

Since then, Putumayo has released more than 100 titles. The company is developing a syndicated weekly radio show and educational programs.

This year, the label also launched a DVD and paper products line, and sent out its first thematic tour. The Latinas show will be followed next year by a "Mediterranean Odyssey" tour featuring both male and female artists.

This month, Putumayo released two albums: "Music From the Chocolate Lands" and "South Pacific Islands." Scheduled for release in January: a traditional New Orleans jazz collection and a Kermit Ruffins CD. The label also will send Habib Koite to Ashland for a concert in March.

Putumayo sales have gone up 20 percent each year for the past three years, a remarkable record for an independent label in a sagging industry.

"Our slogan is `Guaranteed to Make You Feel Good,' " Storper says, "and if anyone isn't entirely satisfied, they can return the CD to us for a refund.

"We know the Latinas show will make you feel good."

Paul Denison can be reached at 338-2323 or by e-mail at pdenison@ guardnet.com.