CARIBBEAN PLAYGROUND
Caribbean Playgroundis a sun-dappled disc that jigsaws the region into eight bright musical pieces, each with a surprisingly distinct sound.Reggae dominates, getting its rub-a-dub-roasted warmth across by way of "Three Little Birds," "Jamaica Farewell," and others, but it doesn't drown out Trinidadian soca, Puerto Rican bomba, or Haiti's lovely, acoustic-heavy twoubadou. Add to that the vocal magnetism of a lot of these artists--Taj Mahal and the Wailers among them--and Putumayo's expected above-the-call packaging, and you get a CD that's cooler than a Kingston street fair, only easier on little kid ears (and lungs).-Tammy La Gorce