Considering the price, the volume (two hours' worth of music; 28 tracks from 17 acts), the variety (contemporary flamenco; ruminating folk; blues-influenced fingerpicking; smoothly sagacious jazz) and the sustained quality of the tunes, this package is a terrific find for fans of melodic contemporary acoustic guitar. Subtitled "The Best of Two Decades", Narada Guitar 2 is more accurately a showcase for the label's newer acts--20 of the 28 tracks were recorded between 1998 and 2000. Still, highlights abound: the dexterity and corresponding nimbleness of imagination displayed by adventurous fingerpicker Don Ross; the subtle tension of "Ray's Passage" from Randy Roos; the growling, whimsical charm of "The Lawnmower Song" by Eric Tingstad; the enticing flamenco filigree of Jesse Cook; the Celtic-tinged promenade of "Candleman" by Billy McLaughlin; and so on. A few flaws do surface. For instance, the fascinating spell cast by the first four tracks on disc 2 is shattered by an inappropriate samba, a lightweight cream puff, from Willie and Lobo. Yet the overriding quality of this cherry-picked sampler more than compensates. --Terry Wood