The ideal record store

Call it a fantasy, but my ideal record store would have no display bins reserved for any specific type of music.

Instead, the titles would be alphabetical, with all styles and nationalities of performers mixed together. Those seeking a new release by a favorite act might have to spend a little more time. But you`d invariably find a tantalizing surprise waiting with each flick of your fingers.

Of course, my ideal record store would also have an in-house audio system that would let you hear any album - in or out of stock - on a wireless headset as you browsed. You could also tune into constantly changing selections that would take you around the world of music, or parts of it, while you shopped or kicked back in the chill-out lounge (which would offer free reading material and Internet access to all matters musical).

In the meanwhile, these five albums that would be welcome in my ideal record store ... and, I hope, in yours.

"Ko Sira," Oumou Sangare, World Circuit/Nonesuch.

Originally released in 1993, "Ko Sira" (which translates as "Marriage Today") is the second album by Mali`s Oumou Sangare. She is not only one of West Africa`s most evocative singers, but also its most notable feminist in a region not noted for enlightened views about women. This enchanting, eight-song album finds Sangare leading an 11-piece band that mixes guitars, flute, violin and bass with such traditional instruments as the harp-like kameligoni and the karyaing (a percussive device that is scraped, rather than struck). But the focal point remains her high, keening, soulful singing, which is steeped in tradition, yet very much of the moment. Its impact is liberating in any language.

"Peggy`s Blue Nightmare," Andy Summers, RCA.

Best known to rock fans as the former guitarist in the Police, Summers follows his splendid 1999 Thelonious Monk tribute album, "Green Chimneys," with an homage to another jazz immortal, Charles Mingus. As with his Monk salute, he manages to add his own stamp, while retaining the moody emotional essence of Mingus` wonderfully idiosyncratic music. Summers does so by choosing skilled instrumental and vocal foils, including cellist Hank Roberts, Blondie singer Deborah Harry, the Kronos Quartet, rapper Q-Tip and such young jazz dynamos as bassist Dave Carpenter and drummer Joel Taylor. And he does so by taking risks and making them work, whether adding Hendrix-inspired guitar licks to "Tonight At Noon," transforming the politically charged "Remember Rockefeller at Attica" into a lilting Brazilian samba, or adding a pointed rap to the shimmering ballad "Goodbye Porkpie Hat."

"In Cerca Di Cibo," Gianluigi Trovesi & Gianni Coscia, ECM.

This quietly mesmerizing album features 15 instrumental pieces that showcase the skills of Italian clarinetist Gianluigi Trovesi and accordionist Gianni Coscia. With the exception of the Modern Jazz Quartet classic "Django," none of the selections are likely to be familiar to anyone not steeped in Italian folk and classical music traditions. This duo`s deft musical creations can evoke a hillside Italian village and George Gershwin`s "An American In Paris" in the same breath, and make them seem perfectly compatible. When music is as graceful and playful as this, genres become meaningless. Viva, Italia!

"Cape Town Revisited," Abdullah Ibrahim Trio, Enja.

A former protege of Duke Ellington, Abdullah Ibrahim rose to international prominence in the 1960s as Dollar Brand. Under either name, he is South Africa`s most gifted pianist. He also has a unique ability to combine jazz and blues with traditional African dance rhythms, religious hymns and more, and to make what results inviting to aficionados and neophytes alike. Recorded in Cape Town in 1997, this 13-song live album is a marvel of empathetic musical interaction.

"Good People in Times of Evil," Hellborg, Lane, Selvaganesh, Bardo.

This all-instrumental album combines the talents of three fleet-fingered virtuosos: Swedish bass phenom Jonas Hellborg (perhaps the only man alive to have recorded with John McLaughlin, Johnny Rotten and Ginger Baker); American guitar wiz Shawn Lane (whose credits range from Willie Nelson and Sam & Dave to Alex Chilton and - ahem! - Black Oak Arkansas); and Indian percussion marvel V. Selvaganesh, currently on tour with Shakti. Together, they create intricate, genre-leaping music that is almost completely improvised, yet sounds meticulously arranged.

(c)Copley News Service

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Author: George Varga