Our guide to world music on the show is Bob Duskis, co-founder of Six Degrees Records, a label in San Francisco. In keeping with the desert footage we’re seeing from the war coverage, we get into some “desert blues.”

The German label Network Records had a surprise hit with the first volume of “Desert Blues” so they have once again compiled what they call "The finest African Ballads from Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Sudan, Ethiopia and Western Sahara.”

The focus of the “Desert Blues 2” collection is on the more introspective, acoustic-based side of African music, and it serves to really showcase the variety of different styles this vast continent has to offer. Many of these musicians are the equivalent of the American blues troubadour who sings of life's tribulations and of survival amid adverse conditions.

Tracks:

Djeli Moussa Diawara and Bob Brotzman, "Almany:"
Diawara is from Guinea and is the half brother of famed musician Mory Kante. He is collaborating here with American ethnomusicologist Bob Brozman. Diawara is playing a newly developed 31-string kora -- 21 strings is the norm -- and Brozman is playing a "national guitar," which has a resonator in the body with a bottleneck slide.

Lobi Traore, "Anunka Ben:"
Lobi is known in Mali as the “Bambara Bluesman.” His music shows the overt influences of American blues and rock. He admits to being a big fan of the blues and John Lee Hooker, in particular. Much has been made of Africa being the birthplace of the blues -- and it’s interesting here to see that the influence also works the other way around.

Hasna el Becharia, "Hakmet Lakdar:"
Becharia is from the southwest of Algeria. She is famous for her electric guitar and wedding orchestra. She plays the guimbri, a bass lute with three strings. Her ensemble of musicians come from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Niger, and her music blends a variety of local traditions.