Hey, I enjoy some of the Putumayo releases. Received as gift the Puerto Rico one-love it, have heard many others. After living for some time in Puerto Rico, and taking liking to all Latino styles, I have an idea about the labels. For background, realize I am over 50 years, have been a musician...guitar and keyboards, now some congas/percussion, and collector of records, soundboard tapes, and CD's, actually beginning before 12 years. My musical horizon and breadth of types of music I enjoy, or can tolerate, has grown significantly with age and experience. As a general statement regarding "Latin" music, as well as most other "types", the categorical terms tend not to mean very much. Salsa, for example, may have originally referred to a particular beat and collection of musical instruments used in the performance, and may have had some recognition of the ability to do a particular form of dancing to the music. Now however, "Salsa" can encompass just about all types of Latin music the way it is commonly used as a label, perhaps it really means "Music of a Hispanic sort". Some other labels have also lost specific character...ex. Cuban, Afro-Cuban. Maybe Cuban originally meant with a 3/2 or 2/3 clave beat......but just pick up a "Cuban" labelled release and see what variety it will have. Even some of the types which describe a form or sub-type that is based upon a particular beat, pattern, or instrumentation, ie. merengue, son, etc. are used generically. So much so that if you purchase a "merengue" labelled disc, you may end up with a couple true merengue, and some ballada, or bachatta, etc. on the same disc. While, some who try to label the musical product may mean well, there is just so much overlap, and it is virtually impossible to sub-categorize all the variations and types or be genuinely true to a specific type in most cases. It is best to get to know what you like, identify the artists, types of instrumentation, source of the music...ie. country, label, songs, and so forth so that you can identify what you want to listen to. These days, purchase of many discs is simply a gamble unless you get a chance to listen to them ahead of time. Choosing by the category alone is very risky. I don't get hung up on categories so much, though I went through that stage at times. Now, it is the music that counts, sometimes the song. If it is of a quality to move me, that really is what counts. Sometimes I like to hear a particular instrument, or mix of instruments. Sometimes I want acoustic, or other times I am ready to rock out. Sometimes folk ballads, sometimes current popular stuff. One mood now, another mood later. Music is really a very, very subjective thing. No wonder objective labels don't work so well.
I notice that among so many others, Putumayo also has a Dominica CD out, and is advertising the soon to be released "Afro-Portugese" CD. Check out the label offerings at one of the Web CD sources, like CD Universe. Don't let the labels stunt your musical growth!