A roving trio sets an example

A new recording from three gifted individual artists, “Toto Bona Lokua” (Sunnyside), takes the genre of world music into an intriguing new area of international creative union.

Singer Gerald Toto is from Martinique; bassist-singer-multi-instrumentalist Richard Bona is from Cameroon, and keyboardist-vocalist-guitarist Lokua Kanza is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Each is a powerful, imaginative performer in his own right.

Kanza, 47, was an important participant in the early emergence of African singer-songwriters a decade ago; Bona, 37, is a superb jazz bassist as well as an imaginative composer; Toto, 38, has been working in Paris for a decade, combining African rhythms with everything from funk to reggae.

The CD, organized by French producer Laurent Bizot, roves in all directions, with no preconceived ideas other than to put these three remarkable musicians together to see what would happen. Sung in the English, Lingala, Douala and Creole languages, these tracks discover common currency via casually mixed styles, stunning instrumental interaction and the creative use of vocal overdubbing.

Every cut this extraordinary partnership is enthralling.

Toto’s sweet, heady vocal sound is a constant pleasure. So too are the soul-styled qualities of his “Help Me” and the surprisingly lush harmonies of “Flutes.”

Kanza, whose work remains most directly in touch with his African roots, brings kora-like qualities to his “Lamuka” and the Ladysmith Black Mambazo vocal textures to “Na Ye.” Bona’s Jaco Pastorius-influenced bass is astounding on the rhythmically tricky, 7/4 meter of his “Seven Beats/”.

What may be most interesting about “Toto Bona Lokua” is the promising pattern it sets for future creative encounters between artists from distinctly different musical backgrounds.

Here’s a sampling of equally engaging, though stylistically very different, current world music releases:

Brave Old World

“Song of the Lodz Ghetto” (Winter & Winter)

Brave Old World has always been a unique klezmer voice. But never more so than with this significant work, which gathers songs written between 1939 and 1945 in Poland’s Lodz Ghetto. Underscoring the work’s source, the CD opens with a recording of “Rumkovski Khayim,” a popular ghetto song of the period, sung by Ya’akov Rotenberg. The work then moves into a mixture of ghetto songs and original new material inspired by those songs. Performed with great sensitivity by the group and sung exquisitely by Michael Alpert, this collection illustrates the power of the creative consciousness to survive, even thrive, in the most harrowing of circumstances.

Danu

“When All Is Said and Done” (Shanachie)

This Irish septet has been receiving one award after another in the past few years -- all well deserved. But one suspects that the addition of the warm alto voice of singer Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh may have had something to do with the growing acceptance of an already fine band. The jaunty collection of traditional reels, airs and ballads is enhanced by the presence of Bob Dylan’s “Farewell Angelina” and -- on “The Coachmen’s Whip” -- an energetic front line of two flutes and two fiddles.

Various Artists

“Italian Cafe” (Putumayo Records)

Lounge music fans will have fun with this one. One of Putumayo’s more unusual collections, it surveys music from -- and inspired by -- the pop music of the ‘50s, the era of La Dolce Vita. At that time, the influence of American pre-rock pop was pervasive in Italy. But there was a certain circularity about it, in the sense that so many American pop stars of the period -- think Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin -- were of Italian descent. Among the artists here are the veteran stars Nicola Arigliano, Fred Buscaglione and Renato Carosone as well as the more recent Giorgio Conte (younger brother of Paolo Conte) and current pop star Daniele Silvestri.

Niyaz

“Niyaz” (Six Degrees)

Niyaz is a Los Angeles-based ensemble featuring the singing of Azam Ali (from the group Vas), guitarist Ramin (Loga) Tarkian (from Axiom of Choice) and Grammy-nominated re-mixer Carmen Rizzo. The music gathers sounds and rhythms from the arc that reaches from the Mediterranean to India. But the real highlight of the CD is the always-gripping voice and passionate phrasing of Ali.

Various Artists

“The Rough Guide to the Music of Sudan” (Rough Guide)

Sudan, the largest country in Africa, has a cultural life reflecting the myriad peoples and societies that have drifted across its vast territory. The music in this sampler, sung in a variety of languages, is similarly diverse, ranging from the sweet-voiced vocals of Rasha and the therapeutic, rhythmic chant of Zar Omdurman to the gorgeous, dark-toned voice of the veteran singer Muhamed El Amin and the message-driven rap music of former child soldier Emmanuel Jal.

Shukar Collective

“Urban Gypsy” (Riverboat Records/World Music Network)

These Romanians can make music out of anything. The album cover lists wooden barrel drum and spoons, but there’s obviously more, including a driving bass, random percussion sounds and -- above all -- the rap-like vocals. Musically, Shukar Collective’s source is ursari music (an ursar is a “bear handler”), a traditional genre in which men dance, shout and play percussion instruments to tease and frighten the animals. But this ensemble has taken the music into other realms, which can best be described as a jazz groove with rap vocals, sung passages, electronic layering, call and response and emotional Sprechstimme.