A few years ago Belize's ANDY PALACIO realized that saving the vanishing musical culture of the Garifuna—a mixed race of Africans and Arawak Indians—was more urgent than cherry-picking bits of its legacy for the slick punta rock he'd spent most of the 90s making. For Watina (Cumbancha), one of this year's best albums, he brought together legendary singer, songwriter, and guitarist Paul Nabor, who's 79, with younger musicians like Aurelio Martinez, earning the project comparisons to the Buena Vista Social Club. The music is mostly acoustic, marked by gentle Caribbean rhythms, soulful, gently imploring vocals, and elaborate but unfussy guitar patterns that create a sublime melodic filigree. The melancholy beauty of "Baba" reminds me a whole lot of Compay Segundo's signature "Chan Chan."