Latin — CDs  

Funky Latin breaks and very groovy grooves – the kind of record that you hear for only a second, and say "oh yeah, this is the stuff!" Coke were an obscure Florida combo who mixed together Latin, funk, and soul – served up in a crossover style that's halfway between the sound of the NuYorican generation and the heavier hitters of LA's Chicano funk scene! Instrumentation includes organ, guitar, and trumpets – and vocals are delivered in a brown eyed soul style that burns nicely with the heavier grooves of the group. But best of all is the drummer, who really kicks it large on the kit – and creates some really nice funky numbers on the set! Includes the break classic "Na Na", plus the tunes "Got To Touch Your Face", "Te Amo Mas", "Quiero Decirte", "Bang Bang", "Bun Bun Bun", "You Turn Me On", and "Que Seria De Mi". A really great album – with a totally unique sound!

Great stuff – and a very sharp album cut by Willie during the Latin soul era, featuring a bunch of tracks that veers more towards the boogaloo side of things than his later albums! The groove is nice and hard – stripped down with the youthful energy that Willie brought to the scene at the time – and the record features great vocals by Hector Lavoe, Yayo El Indo, and Elliot Romero. Features the wonderful piano-bassed groover – "Jazzy" – which spirals out with descarga-like energy! Other great tracks include the boogaloo numbers "Skinny Papa", "Willie Baby", "Willie Whopper", and "El Malo" – but the whole album's a winner!

A smoking set of work from Tito Puente – four classic albums, wrapped together in a single package – with a bonus album of rare material too! First up is Cuban Carnival – one of Tito Puente's finest albums for RCA, with a tight hard bunch of cuts that have a Cuban big band sound, and a lot more drive to them than some of Tito's other work for the label. Ray Bryant wrote the great track "Cuban Fantasy", and Tito contributed most of the other tunes on the set – a really unique batch of material that includes "Yambeque", "Elegua Chango", "Que Sera", and "Cha Cha De Pollos". The percussion is nice and hard, and the band grooves in tight ensemble playing throughout! Night Beat is a really jazzy effort that was cut with a top-shelf list of players! The groove's a bit different than some of Tito's other work – but in a good way, and one that has him stretching past straight Latin to mix in a heavy dose of jazz – really getting the most of players who include Eddie Bert on trombone, Gene Quill on saxes, Bernie Glow on trumpet, and Barry Galbraith on guitar. The rhythms are key – and in addition to drums from Jimmy Cobb, the album also features Mongo Santamaria on congas and Willy Correa on bongos – not to mention more percussion from Tito himself! Dance Mania is a burner of a set from Tito Puente – very well titled to suit the energy of the session! The tracks are all highly rhythmic numbers – short, but filled with jazzy horn flourishes and the kind of snapping rhythms that made the Puente group one of the biggest crossover favorites of the 50s. Tunes nicely mix up vocals with some more pronounced jazz soloing – getting a heck of a lot into a relatively small space, and really keeping up the energy of the record overall. Revolving Bandstand is a joint project from Tito Puente and Buddy Morrow – both leaders who recorded some great work for the label in the 50s, sounding great here in a unique variation on their classic sounds! The album has both Morrow and Puente playing back to back – creating a "revolving bandstand" that has both groups playing the same tunes at the same time – a very odd approach, but one that comes off well here – mixing Tito's Latin and Buddy's swing nicely, without too much confusion in the instrumentation. There's some great vibes on a few tracks! Last up is Tito Puente Quatro Bonus Edition – a set that features 13 rare tracks, with singles, outtakes, and more – including "La Virgen De La Macarena", "Moonlight In Vermont", "The Continental (alt take)", "Blue Moon (alt)", "Ran Kan Kan", "Timbal Y Bongo", and many outtakes of "Pa Los Rumberos"! Beautiful packaging too – in a 7" square hardcover book, with many pages of notes and images – like some of the Hip-O Select collections!