What do St. Martin, a closed bookstore and world music have in common?

The story begins in 1994 when my husband and I celebrated our 20th anniversary in St. Martin. On that trip and many subsequent visits, we spent a lot of time on the French side of the island, especially in Grand Case, home to some of the best gourmet restaurants in the world, serving a blend of Caribbean, West Indian and French cuisines.

Our last night on the island we dined at Cha Cha Cha — a restaurant in a whitewashed, two-story stucco house that sadly closed the following year after Hurricane Luis struck the island. As we relaxed with our rum drinks, enjoying the balmy evening air, we realized we were listening to a style of music we had not heard before. When we asked our waiter what was playing, he told us it was the album Wakafrika by Manu Dibango. Keep in mind this was before music streaming was available (long before the invention of the iPod), so we asked if there was a place on the island to buy music CDs. I’m sure we could have tracked down the album when we returned home, but instead we got up extra early the next morning to dash to a music store to buy the CD before heading to the airport.

Manu Dibango, a Cameroonian musician now in his 80s, was designated a UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2004; you may be familiar with his song “Soul Makoosa.” What caught our ears in the restaurant that night was the intriguing fusion of African jazz, funk and a traditional Cameroonian music called makoosa. It’s remained one of our favorite albums and inspired my curiosity about music from other lands.

Fast-forward to 2003, when my husband and I owned an independent bookstore in Connecticut. One of the most popular non-book items we sold was world music on CDs, supplied by Putumayo World Music. I am happy to say the company is still in business, selling a list of titles covering everything from vintage to contemporary styles, ranging from French Café, Music from the Wine Lands and Music from the Coffee Lands to Rumba Flamenco, Cape Verde, Salsa Around the World and Indian Groove. There are even yoga selections to transport you on a musical journey weaving together music and sounds to soothe body and spirit. Recent releases include Broadway Jazz and Ska Around the World.

Putumayo also launched a kids’ division, Putumayo Kids, which offers a fun resource for introducing children to music and cultures from around the world. The company expanded to include side products like kids’ books about global destinations and cultures, greeting cards and photographs.

Although our bookstore is now closed, I kept all the Putumayo music and listen to it to this day. And now, coming full circle, as I edit Global Traveler articles about destinations around the world, I often plug in an appropriate CD. An article about Milan (upcoming in our February issue) recently inspired me to play the Italian Café collection, and I’m listening to Paris and Vintage France this week as I edit our March 9–5: Paris article.

As I checked out the Putumayo website today, I discovered in 2017 the company launched a travel division called Putumayo World Travel in collaboration with insightCuba/Masala, so far organizing music-based trips to Cuba, Peru and New Orleans.

What better way to learn about another culture than through its music? Music is an international language, after all.

— Jan Hecht, senior editor