Want to make a New Year's resolution you might actually keep for more than a week? Try this: Resolve to work off a few calories by getting up, getting out and experiencing some of the fine world music that 1999 will bring.
There are plenty of opportunities to give it a try in the first quarter of the new year. Here's a broad-based selection of some of the more engaging events:
January
* Tango Buenos Aires: The 25-member Argentine company slides seductively through the insinuating rhythms of tango music--rich with the plaintive sound of the bandoneon--in moves quivering with sensuality. Thursday through Jan. 9 at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. (562) 916-8501.
* "Today's Stars--Timeless Songs": A three-hour survey of Russian pop music, complete with scenery, costumes and production numbers featuring a lineup of some of the country's best-known pop performers. Jan. 10 at the Universal Amphitheatre. (818) 622-4440.
* "Mystical Arts of Tibet": One of the month's most unusual events, in which monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery (featured in the soundtrack for the film "Seven Years in Tibet") promote healing and purification through chants and throat singing. Jan. 15 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. (949) 854-4646.
* "One Earth Tour": The popular Kodo drummers of Japan return for five performances that feature the gripping sounds of the drums--especially the temblor-like pounding of the massive, 880-pound o-daiko--but the 105-minute program also includes the music of bamboo flutes, xylophones, gongs, etc., as well as mime and dance. Jan. 27-31 at Royce Hall, UCLA. (310) 825-2101.
* Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival: "Slack key" refers to the traditional Hawaiian custom of tuning strings to open chords to allow a wide range of guitar effects. The program is headed by Cyril Pahinui, one of a number of fine guitarists from the Pahinui family. Jan. 30 at Marsee Auditorium, El Camino College. (800) 832-2787.
February
* Salif Keita: The penetrating voice of the albino singer from Mali is one of the singular sounds of global music. Keita appears regularly in the Southland, and his programs are always gripping experiences. Feb. 11 at Royce Hall.
* Ali Akbar Khan: One of the great Indian classical musicians, a revered master of the difficult sarod. Khan will be accompanied by the gifted young tabla player Zakir Hussa. Feb. 28 at Royce Hall.
March
