Various Artists FESTIVAL IN THE DESERT (World Village)

This one-of-a-kind live CD samples the performances at a remarkable January 2003 festival in Essakane, Mali, some 60 miles into the desert outside Timbuktu. It kicks off with a rowdy, polyrhythmic takamba — that’s the traditional music of the Tuareg, desert nomads who made up the majority of artists and attendees at the festival. Cycling, plucked-string melodies, soaring voices, and the thump of calabash percussion emerge elsewhere in the desert-music tracks that dominate. But there are also great electric-guitar moments, like the jam-band contributions of Tinariwen (Mali) and Tidawt (Niger), a sultry, bluesy track from Robert Plant and Justin Adams, and a slamming blast from the Navajo rock band Blackfire — not one of the musical highlights, but memorable for the shockwaves it delivered to Tuareg listeners used to more serene varieties of electric music. Malian stars Oumou Sangaré and Ali Farka Toure and Toure’s protégé Afel Bocoum contribute energized performances, and the French band Lo’Jo — who pretty much created this event — weigh in. Most of the names won’t be familiar, but don’t be dissuaded. This was a rare moment of true spontaneity and discovery on the world-music trail, and the beautifully packaged CD captures the experience as well as any could.