When's the last time you thought of the tuba as a cool instrument? Well, Bosnian composer Goran Bregovic certainly has--he made it the centerpiece of this stunning collection of music on which he and Polish singer Kayah collaborated. Here an exotic Eastern-tinged mix of old-world Polish folk, Byzantine and Yiddish sounds, and dance beats swirl together for a most original portrait of alternative Polish music. No wonder this release is Poland's biggest-selling album ever. Masterfully it emanates the haunting darkness of Eastern Europe with violin, oud, guitar, and tuba while travailing the border of the contemporary pop world. Bregovic expertly twists the fat beats around the fiddles and Near East finger bells on "Spij Kochanie, Spij," while he somehow pulls out a heavy, infectious dance groove from a tuba on "100 Lat." On the dramatically bold "Jesli Bóg Istnieje," Yemenite singer Ofra Haza is paid tribute for a passionately melancholy song evoking the dignity and pain of peasant Europe. Kayah's voice is nothing less than powerful and emotive--effortless in its reach to tenderness on "Ta-Bakiera," playfully energetic on "Prawy do Lewego," and bemoaning, mystical, and fervent on most every other tune. A wondrous album not to be missed. --Karen Karleski