INCredible Sound of Gilles Peterson

It's occasionally hard to wrap one's American boy-band-addled brain around the idea, but there is a world across the ocean in which blustery A&R execs aren't the musical tastemakers--the DJs are. Imagine that. You could say that one in particular, acid-jazz kingpin Mr. Gilles Peterson, is chiefly responsible for giving jazz back to the entire under-40 U.K. population. So when a compilation by someone like that hits the streets, it's understandably cause for celebration. The bad news is that the original double-disc import edition has been hobbled at the knees for its domestic release. The much better news is that the single CD that remains is still as gorgeously diverse as Peterson's radio shows. It features tons of jazz (most notably saxophonist Pharoah Sanders) and vibraphonist Roy Ayers), heartbreaking soul (Minnie Riperton), sultry hip-hop (Handsome Boy Modeling School) and DJ Vadim), and otherwise indescribable journeys (Soul Dhamma's "Flower," Nuyorican Soul's piano-backed Balearic cocktail "I Am the Black Gold of the Sun"). The entire urban music spectrum holds hands and sways in harmony under Mr. Peterson's direction. --Bob Michaels