Latin — CDs  

Lost Latin funk from the Bay Area scene of the 70s – and an album that may well blow away better-known work by groups like Malo, Azteca, or El Chicano! The album's near-perfect right from the start – and brings in plenty of New York elements to the groove, thanks to the inclusion of a heady amount of jazz alongside the soul, Latin, and funk elements in the grooves! The legendary Teo Macero produced and arranged – and really takes a lot of care in the studio to focus the overall energy of the tremendous talents on the record – players who include Hadley Caliman on flute and tenor, Steve Marcus on soprano sax, Benny Velarde on timbales, and Francisco Aguabella on congas – plus the trio of Cesar, Mark Levine, and Merl Sanders on keyboards. Most numbers have this really full, flowing groove – jazzy, but with a strong emphasis on the rhythms – and often touched with some great work on guitar that echoes the Santana-inspired sound of the generation, yet never in a rock way at all. Linda Tillery sings vocals on a few numbers, but the main focus is definitely instrumental – and the whole album's great – with cuts that include "See Saw Affair", "Azucar", "Descarga", "The Devil & Montezuma", "Gotta Get Away", and "Bridges".

Joe Bataan working in a pronounced dancefloor soul mode! While the legendary Bataan was no stranger to the fusion of Latin, soul and funk, this some of the most club soul oriented sounds from Joe we've ever heard – and the sessions are seeing official release for the first time ever! The recording feature players who worked on Joe's stellar Afrofilipino and features a backdrop of wonderful Afro and Latin percussion and rhythms with the best sounds of the NYC dancefloor soul in the mix – with uptempo and midtempo vocal numbers flirting with disco and modern soul very nicely – with solid lead vocals and groovy female backup! Most tunes bring a bit of harp into the mix for a little more of a soar that plays off the percussion in really cool way. Titles include "Sadie", "When We Get Married", "My Cloud", "I Need Love", a take on the Isaac Hayes "Theme From The Men", "Let Me Kove You", "My Opera" and "I Do Love You".

Two rare gems from this legendary Latin group – both on CD for the first time ever! Big Stick is quite possibly the rarest album from Pucho & The Latin Soul brothers – and also one of the greatest, too – thanks to a wonderfully soulful vibe overall, and some wicked vocals from the great Jackie Soul! Arrangements are a bit bigger than some of their previous dates, but nicely offbeat too – put together by Bill Fisher, and featuring loads of great keyboards and organ from Neal Creque! The sound's got less horns than beofre, but the heavy percussion, keyboards, and vocals more than offset that loss – and make for one of the most unique Pucho albums ever! Titles include "Swamp People", "Left In the Cold", "Big Stick", "Cold Shoulder", and a very groovy version of "Sunny"! Dateline is a rare gem from Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers – and an album that has them really hitting strong on all instrumental fronts! The group sports wonderful piano and organ lines from Neal Creque – a player who helps Pucho hit a more expansive, jazzy vibe – mixed with horns from the always-great Pazant brothers – Eddie on saxes and Al on trumpet – plus some trombone from Barry Rogers too! These players all really help add some great jazzy inflections to the whole set – important, too, because the album's all instrumental – with no vocals to get in the way of the solos. Willie Bivens also plays vibes on the record – and titles include "Listen to Louie", "Dateline", "Yambo", "Bim", and "Ain't Nothin Can Happen".

Enough funk to stop a truck – and a rare collection of tracks made by Senor Soul, a heavy-hitting LA group from the 60s – and the precursor to War! The tunes on the set are pulled from the group's sessions for the Whiz and Double Shot labels, plus a few previously unissued tracks – and the sound is completely sublime for fans who like their funk hard, heavy, and instrumental! Beats are rough, bass is fierce, and there's a good smattering of some Latinized elements – like percussion, flute, and tasy guitar. A few tracks have vocals, but the overall feel is mostly instrumental – and together, the tracks make the set feel like you've just stumbled upon a whole box of rare funky 45s sitting in the basement of a shop on Central Ave! 20 tracks in all – including "The Mouse", "Soul Fiesta", "Make The Funk Jump", "El Loco", "I Dig Rock & Roll Music", "I Ain't Got No Soul Today (What It Is, Y'All)", "Get On Up", "Hypnotizer", "The Sneak", "Poquito Soul", and "Don't Lay Your Funky Trip On Me".

One of our favorite Cal Tjader albums ever – and one of the first to have his vibes working alongside Fender Rhodes! The record's a surprising little set from the start of the 70s – one that almost has Cal picking up some of the New York sounds of a few years before, then mixing them up with a hipper west coast electric style in the end – a Fantasy Records vibe that meshes together a few different modes, and comes up with a rich new style in the process! There's a bit of vocals on the set – somewhat unusual for Cal Tjader, and often used to augment the soulfully snapping grooves of the best tunes – but even more amazing is the heavy use of Fender Rhodes, played here by the amazing Al Zulaica, who's work on the album really ranks right up there with the best early 70s keyboardists on the coast! Zulaica's piano is amazing next to Cal's warmly chromatic vibes – and other instrumentation includes saxes from Bill Perkins, flute from Mel Martin, trumpet from Luis Gasca, moog from Rita Dowling, and percussion from both Pete and Coke Escovedo. Titles include the killer "Aqua Dulce (Cool-Ade)", a fantastic version of "Gimme Shelter", a sublime of Clare Fischer's "Morning", and the cuts "Ran Kan Kan", "Descarga Cubana", "Curacao", and "Somewhere In The Night".

One of the hippest sets we've ever seen on Spanish Harlem – a collection that goes way past the Latin Soul hits, to dig deep in the uptown underground at the end of the 60s! The package is compiled with gems from the Fania catalog, but rally moves past the obvious – going for some of the more obscure artists who recorded singles for some of the smaller Fania-held labels – and often focusing on tunes that drew more from late 60s soul and funk than they did from any Latin rhythms of the time. The singers are especially wonderful – and often hit a vibe that's right up there with some of Joe Bataan's best of the period – richly soulful, but often deeply personal too – never as polished as chart soul, and often showing a grittier, more realistic style that's totally great – especially when mixed with instrumentation as tight as this! Titles include "Reflections Of My Life" by 125th Street Candy Store, "On Old Broadway" by 107th Street Stickball Team, "Don't Be Afraid" by Lebron Brothers, "Central Park" by Harvey Averne Dozen, "Heaven" by Tito Ramos, "Your Smile" by Parris, "Some Lonely Heart" by Ronnie Marks, "There's No Girl" by Olivieri, "Maria Maria" by King Nando, "Already Satisfied" by Tony Middleton & Bobby Matos, "Nitty Boo Boo" by The Nitty Sextette, "Lonely Has Been My Day" by Ralphie & The Latin Lovers, "I'm Gonna Leave You" by Russell Cohen & The New Yorkers, and "Ain't No Big Thing" by Ralfi Pagan.

A double-header to die for – two of the rarest albums from Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers – back to back on a single CD! First up is Saffron & Soul – one of the first albums from the legendary Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers – a wonderful little record that evenly blends together jazz, Latin, and soul music! There's a stronger soul jazz vibe here than on some later Pucho sets – partly due to the strong use of jazz in the rhythms, but also to the record's excellent horn work – not by the Pazant Brothers, but by Harold Alexander on tenor and flute, Claude Bartee on tenor, and Vicent McEwan on trumpet – all players who really make the record sparkle! The set's heavy on vibes too – a Pucho trademark, played here by Willie Bivins – and titles include the excellent "Soul Yamie", plus "Something Black", "The Groover", "Caravan", "Aye Ma Ma", and "What A Piece". Shuckin & Jivin is one of the most soulful albums ever recorded by Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers – a set that really shows the changing sound of Latin music in the late 60s – with some fresh vocals added to the group by Jackie Soul! Jackie only sings on a few cuts, but really brings in a raw Spanish Harlem vibe – one that gives the set a bit more of a Fania/Cotique sort of groove than usual – even when the group are leaping ahead on tight instrumentals – tunes that really sparkle with piano from Neal Creque, vibes from Willy Bivens, and tenor sax from Claude Bartee! Vocal gems include "Shuckin & Jivin", "CC Rider", and "You Are My Sunshine" – instrumental tracks include "Return To Me", "Swing Thing", "Maiden Voyage", and "How Insensitive".