Latin — CDs  

A nicely done collection of post-Irakere work from saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera – pulled from his Columbia recordings of the 80s! The work on the set goes a long way towards fusing the two styles of Paquito's roots – Afro-Cuban rhythms and North American jazz – sometimes in subtle ways that break out within a more straight ahead piece, other times in more outstated modes that recall the sound of Irakere. D'Rivera plays in a variety of settings on the tracks – on both alto sax and clarinet – on a total of 12 titles that include "Why Not", "Song For Maura", "Miami", "Song to My Son", "Monk-Tuno", "Green Dolphin Street", "Manteca", "Claudia", and "Comu Fue".

A brilliant new move for Willie Colon – a set that goes even further than his mid 70s classics with Ruben Blades, and pushes Willie into a Pan-American consciousness carried off with ambitious musical vision! The sound is still salsa at the core, but Willie's also brought in bits of other South American influences – traces of styles from Columbia, Argentina, and most importantly Brazil – heard wonderfully on Willie's reading of Chico Buarque's excellent "Oh Que Sera"! The backings are full, and sometimes have large orchestrations – and the vocals are both proud yet somehow fragile at the same time. Titles include "Oh, Que Sera?", "Mi Sueno", "Celo", "Amor Verdadero", "Al Dormir", "Toma Mis Manos", and "Sueno De Papelote".