Oran Etkin

If the name Oran Etkin sounds unfamiliar, that's okay. His music, however, is not. Since he started out playing in bars and jazz clubs of Manhattan, he has developed a reputation as one of the world's foremost world music impresarios, blending the best of Old World African traditions with classical jazz and instrumental music. Now he's taking his global approach to music to the people with a debut CD, "Oran Etkin," a genre-smashing collaboration with one of the world music's greatest acts. The result is an album as pleasant as it is listenable.

As soon as the first notes hit the ears, the first track, "Yekeke," makes it clear that this is not a typical world album. Featuring a cappella solos, snares and the almighty string orchestra, the track dares to do what world music artists have so far failed to do--blend Western music with eastern traditions. The trend continues with the dueling guitars of "Nina" and the jazzy afro-jazz of "Not a Waltz." With such a variety of styles being fused together, it's easy to wonder where the jazz ends and the "world" part of the CD begins. That's just one of the challenges Etkin asks listeners to accept on the album, and as ringleader of the show, he's more than comfortable living in two worlds.

Though the klezmer-playing musician has proven his traditionalist chops, he's not above paying tribute to jazz legends of lore. That soon becomes evident in his Africanized take on Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean a Thing," transforming Ellington's vocal beats to a horn-based, xylophone heavy tune. Far from being intimidating, Etkin's unconventional style and his diverse knowledge of music is a pleasant diversion from earlier musicians in the genre, who tended to labor in the traditional music of their forefathers. By straddling his feet between two musical universes...that of the old music of African and Jewish traditions and the modern music of the 21st Century--Etkin has managed to bring traditional music into the mainstream with surprising results.

At $13, "Kelenia" is worth sticking into the car stereo.