"Longevity: A Divine Gift" His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I speaks on the occasion of His 74th birthday.

Chuck Foster revels in reggae's passion for language and life, as evidenced by Mutabaruka's latest release, Life Squared, Sizzla's loquacious two-volume The Story Unfolds, and Prezident Brown's Showcase Vols. 1 and 2. New classics from veterans Freddie McGregor, Culture and Rod Taylor, a Jimmy Cliff compilation, and home-grown reggae from John Brown's Body present the many facets of today's sound.

The heavy, heavy sound of Afro-Rock, Vol. 1 and Tony Allen's rediscovered Afrobeat masterpieces kick off a journey down the Silk Road that ends up in the Bahamas with Andre Toussaint and a 1935 Alan Lomax documentation of Ring Game and Round Dance.

Mr. Music relishes the multicultural possibilities of life in London, from Serbian wedding music and Bosnian breakdowns to a significant new collection of 1950s calypso recorded in England. Dave Santiago and Latin Affair, El Regreso de Las Estrellas del Ayer and Eddie Palmieri take a turn on the dance floor.

The highly anticipated Ruben Blades release, Mundo, Eddie Palmieri's La Perfecta II, Albita's Hecho A Mano and Manolito's Se Rompieron los Termometros heat up the night.

Robert Ambrose finds some midnight sun in the Alaskan wilderness with grooves from Issa Bagayogo, Hukwe Zawose and Michael Brook's Afro-techno collaboration, South Africa's Zim Ngqawana and Louis Mhlanga, The Old Highlife of Roadmaster and Agyemang, and Ze Manel's accomplished ballads carrying political messages from his Guinea-Bissau homeland.

Martin Sinnock admits his preference for King Kester Emeneya as the best male singer in the Congolese arena, and the superiority of Victoria Eleison's stage performances.

Bounty Killer's Ghetto Dictionary, Sizzla's The Story Unfolds, Monty G's Revolution, Prezident Brown's Showcase, Beenie Man's The Magnificent, and Capleton, Sizzla, Luciano and Anthony B's Four the Hardway; plus a fistful of dancehall compilations.

Soca Gold 2002 presents a variety of current Caribbean dance music, steel pan virtuoso Andy Narell teams up with French Caribbean musicians on Sakesho, while recordings by the Jam Band from St. Thomas and the Courage Band of the Bahamas make their way to Brian Dring's ears. Sidebar: Andy Narell interviewed on the Sakesho project.

Steve Heilig admits to an affection for country music, citing the works of Jimmie Dale Gilmore as American roots music at its finest; then takes on "country" music from other countries such as Lucky Dube's South African and Alpha Blondy's Ivorian reggae, Nigerian Afrobeat from Segun Bucknor, Ghanaian highlife from the Bokoor Studio, and Zimbabwe's Stella Chiweshe.

An interview with Zuco 103's Lilian Viera.

Afrika Underground: Jazz, Funk and Fusion Under Apartheid by Ron Sakolsky

Dorothy Masuka, Mzilikazi by Jacob Edgar

Boogu Yagga Gal: Jamaican Mento, by Mark Gorney