"Buena Vista" and other welcome visitors

The two big stories of this international music season are linked: First, there is the flood of Cuban musicians coming in the wake of Ry Cooder's "Buena Vista Social Club," and then there is Cambridge's World Music, which is presenting its finest lineup ever, including the most in-demand of the Cubans. Besides all of which are the host of offerings for Boston's ethnic communities, including Brazilian master Gilberto Gil, who comes to Lowell Memorial Auditorium Saturday (617- or 508-931-2000), an array of Latin and Haitian dance shows, and Indian pop and classical concerts.

The official Buena Vista show, with Ibrahim Ferrer and Ruben Gonzalez, has already sold out an Oct. 24 Symphony Hall date, but World Music will bring it back to the Orpheum on Feb. 1 (tickets on sale Sept. 21), and meanwhile there are three other appearances by group members: Eliades Ochoa and his Cuarteto Patria come to House of Blues on Sept. 15 (617-497-2229), and World Music has Compay Segundo, Buena Vista's most charismatic figure, at Berklee Performance Center on Nov. 5, and instrumentalist Barbarito Torres opens for Los Van Van's return to the Roxy on Oct. 3 (617-876-4275). Outside of the Social Club, there is Arturo Sandoval, the Cuban trumpet virtuoso, Sept. 16 at Scullers Jazz Club (617-562-4111), and Irakere, pioneers of the Cuban horn band revival, at Berklee on Nov. 6 (617-482-6661).

As for the rest of the World Music schedule, it includes both old favorites and eight local debuts. An interesting development is the arrival of several European popular singers, all at Berklee Performance Center: The most flamboyant is Paolo Conte, the Italian pianist and singer, who draws from jazz, tango, French cabaret, and whatever else strikes his fancy for a brilliant and utterly unique style, on Oct. 30. Eleftheria Arvanitaki, a young, hot diva of Greek roots music, appears Oct. 31. Then, on Nov. 21, the soulful Portuguese fado singer Misia should provide a treat for those wanting to hear the mainland link to Cesaria Evora's morna (Evora herself returns to Berklee Oct. 16).

Before moving on through World Music's lineup, it is worth mentioning two other major Greek vocal shows: Modern roots diva Glykeria, who is at the Westin Hotel on Oct. 1 (781-229-1941), and George Dalaras, the country's biggest tradition-based star, who comes back to the Wang Theatre on Nov. 15 (617-426-2111). Dalaras, in particular, is a wonderful performer, dubbed the Bob Dylan of Greece for his inventive reworking of classic forms.

World Music also has Paco de Lucia, the great flamenco modernist, back at Symphony Hall on Nov. 14, and two superb shows from the Hungarian folk revival, both at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre: First comes Muzsikas and Marta Sebestyen, the defining Hungarian folk group, touring behind a new album exploring the folk themes of composer Bela Bartok, on Oct. 2. Even more exciting is double bill of Gypsy virtuosos on Oct. 8, which pairs the brilliant Kalman Balogh's Gypsy Cimbalom Band with the Hungarian Okros Ensemble backing the legendary Transylvanian violinist Neti.

Moving south to Africa, there are three shows, two folkloric, one not: The Soul of Mbira, at Somerville Theatre on Oct. 22, brings together five of the finest players of the mbira, or thumb piano, the national instrument of Zimbabwe. The gentle, spiritual feel of that show is balanced by the full-throttle drum and dance performance of Guinea's Ballets Africains, a 35-member troupe coming to Sanders Theatre on Nov. 15. The most eagerly awaited African show, though, is the local debut of Waldemar Bastos, the exiled "voice of Angola," at Somerville Theatre on Oct. 29. Bastos is a lilting, lovely singer who provides yet another piece of the Lusaphone continuum. Indeed, that is a World Music subtheme this season, linking Angola, Portugal, Cape Verde, and Brazil, with Misia, Evora, and, to start things off, the thrilling Afro-Brazilian percussion, horn, electric band, and vocal ensemble Olodum, which comes to the Roxy on Sept. 26.

Other acts in the World Music season are Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster, at Berklee on Nov. 13, the Native American new age trio of R. Carlos Nakai, at Sanders on Nov. 15, and Mehr and Sher Ali, currently the most popular Pakistani qawwali singers in the tradition of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, at the Somerville Theatre on Oct. 17. (Information on all World Music shows: 617-876-4275; Web site: http://www.worldmusic.org.)

Moving away from World Music's presentations, a new addition to the local scene is the birthday celebration for the King of Thailand, two days of Thai music and dance on Oct. 19 and 20 at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center (617-577-1400). In the Celtic world, there are fewer shows than usual, but two fine bills come to the Museum of Our National Heritage in Lexington: Scots singer and multi-instrumentalist Brian McNeill and Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster on Oct. 29, and the Quebecois music and dance group Matapat on Nov. 19.

From India come both pop and classical shows. The first big event is tonight, when "Megamillennium '99," with 70 people including five of India's biggest film stars, one of them the 1997 Miss World, comes to Paul Tsongas Arena in Lowell. On Oct. 9, a smaller pop show comes to John Hancock Hall, including the famed qawwali singers the Sabri Brothers (both shows: 978-250-0822). Then, on Oct. 29, "Sounds of India," with pop star Kumar Sanu comes to Lowell Memorial Auditorium (888-746-2765).

For Indian classical music, the sole promoter this season is MIT's MITHAS (617-258-7971), which is bringing masters in both the familiar North Indian tradition and the southern, or Carnatic, style. Featured performers are MITHAS director George Ruckers on Saturday, flutist Mala Chandrasekhar on Oct. 1, sarod master Buddhadev DasGupta on Oct. 17, and vocalists Nityashree Mahadevan (Oct. 24), N. Vijay Siva (Nov. 5), and Purnima Sen (Nov. 24).

Then there are all the Latin and Haitian dance shows at Wonderland Ballroom, of which, as always, this is only a first, tentative sample. Wonderland's Haitian offerings include System Band on Sept. 25 (617-296-1815), current hit makers T-Vice on Oct. 2 (781-961-3868), and Zen, on Oct. 9 (781-289-3080). Other Haitian shows include the great roots band Boukman Eksperyans at the Strand Theatre on Nov. 7 (617-282-8000) and a Thanksgiving Day show at the Holiday Inn in Somerville (800-963-3777). Haitian events are also listed on the Web site http://www.matinet.com.

Wonderland's Latin shows include a Central American celebration with four bands on Saturday, Elvis Crespo and Banda Chula next Sunday, the Honduran bands Kazzave and Silver Stars on Sept. 26, a hip-hop merengue show with Fulanito and Sancocho on Oct. 10, another Central American show on Thanksgiving and, with luck, Mexico's transcendent Tigres del Norte on Nov. 28. There is also a set of Latin artists coming into the Roxy, with Alex Bueno and Tonio Rosario on Oct. 10, bachata singers Raulin Rodrigues on Oct. 24, and Luis Vargas on Nov. 11, and merengue tipica star Fefita la Grande on Nov. 28 (all above shows, 617-325-8900).

Finally, for cyberphiles who want to keep up with current news of international concerts, dances, and club appearances, there is now an excellent Boston World Rhythm Calendar on line at http://web.mit.edu/tgriffin/necsem/worldrhythm.html.