[MUSIC] Putumayo – music of the world, for the world
A music record label with global range
What’s cool about Putumayo World Music?
Putumayo World Music is a record label that publishes compilation albums based on the musical creations of incredibly talented musicians from around the world.
Curiously, it traces back its origins to a handicrafts-from-around-the-world shop in New York City in 1975, and only venturing into music with their first album compilations in 1993. Things…become other things!
Organizations evolve, and often transform into something quite different, like how the band Vulfpeck started as a YouTube channel, which I’ve written about here. Hunch: I’ll keep on pulling on this thread in future dispatches…
Many of us are incredibly sheltered when it comes to music, usually listening to only a few genres in a handful of languages… at most!
Words in a song matter, of course; to suggest that they don’t is nonsense. And yet…
This is the beauty and magic of Putumayo. For the most part, each of their albums is based on the music of a specific region of the world. Music from all over the globe in a myriad of foreign-to-me languages.
To date, they’ve has churned out 213 of these albums. Two hundred and thirteen! That’s an impressive number of hours of music, and plenty for you to expand your musical horizons.
Now that you know about Putumayo – and Cercle, which I’ve written about previously – it would be a sad thing to deprive yourself of the vast range of musical possibilities. Knowledge is power. And now you know.
The time so short, the music list so vast – enjoy!
Some favorites
Check out African Yoga on Bandcamp. And before we continue: a quick plug to support your favorite artists and musicians! Buy merch. Attend concerts. Listen to their music and share it widely.
Not exactly a Putumayo album, but both musicians have been featured in at least one of their albums. And what makes this particular album stand out? It was recorded in a single improvised session, and published by another wonderful label: Cumbancha.
Closing remarks
I first stumbled upon Putumayo by tuning into the Putumayo World Music Hour radio show while living abroad and driving my car on the highway. I was instantly hooked by the Bossa Nova and Afro-Cuban tunes that Rosalie Howarth played that day.
The contrast between my surroundings and the longings, memories and emotions evoked by music from far away places was thrilling, and weirdly mind-expanding. Here was not only new music but new constellations of human experience and emotion. Listening to Putumayo was a means of being transported to new lands and cultures without having to travel, a kind of cultural exchange shortcut.
But the words? I couldn’t make out what the words meant…
Since then, I’ve been able to “receive”, and enjoy, music in Arabic and French, Bambara, Songhai and Portuguese, none of which I speak myself. Why is that?
I’m not sure I can explain it, but I’ll give it a go. Paraphrasing the great John Berger, a song is a form of expression unfixed in time and place, narrating the past while filling the present with hopes of reaching future listeners. Songs lean forward, and hope to come alive by inhabiting the bodies of musicians and audience. Listen to some of the tunes I shared above and experience this for yourself.
Along with exposing people to new music (much appreciated!), I like to think Putumayo has helped musicians from around the world get opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have had.
And even more wonderful to consider: that thanks to organizations like Putumayo, more music has been made, produced and shared. That the cultural impact is so extraordinary significant that it is impossible to measure. Maybe we don’t need to, as long as we acknowledge, we listen, and we contribute.
Wishful thinking? Perhaps. In the meantime, enjoy the music.