Record label samplers are, more often than not, a mixed grab bag of music that has little connection outside of its having been released by the same company. Rhythm of the River, which assembles 17 tracks from the catalog of the world music label Riverboat Records, transcends that problem not in spite of its diversity but because of it. Riverboat releases music from a wide geographical spread, and this compilation globe-hops from such far-flung locales as Cameroon and Calcutta to Papua New Guinea and La Réunion Island. In lesser hands that might make for some awfully disjointed listening, but Riverboat's concentration on music that is both rootsy and daring, and always honest and unfettered, ties the disparate styles together. The label has introduced a number of artists well worth paying closer attention to, and as any good sampler will do, this one succeeds in whetting the appetite. It's impossible to imagine coming away from this album without wanting to examine more closely such wonderful artists as
Nuru Kane,
Sierra Maestra,
Mabulu,
Sally Nyolo,
Debashish Bhattacharya (a brilliant slide guitarist who, like a couple of others on this collection, has worked with the phenomenal American guitarist
Bob Brozman),
Mory Kanté,
Shukar Collective and
Javier Ruibál, to name just about half. ~ Jeff Tamarkin