Potentially lost in the cycles of hype, dismissal, and rediscovery that have followed exotica pioneer and percussionist Arthur Lyman is the fact that he played great "world" music before such a genre existed. On Yellow Bird Lyman takes on "Havah Negilah," "Ravel's Bolero," and "Autumn Leaves" with mellow, cocktail-poised vibraphone and additional percussion instruments. These are ultimately global tracks, if also humorous cultural documents, taken by Lyman to quirky levels through Afro-Caribbean strains and vaguely polyglot rhythmic directions. International music has come a long way since Lyman, but he did great things when elasticizing musical borders. --Andrew Bartlett