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Some of the tightest funky 70s jamming ever – a lost gem from Ray & His Musical Court, a group that perfectly fuses JB/Horny Horns funk with beat-heavy Afro-Cuban groove! Ray and the group are one of the more obscure funky combos of the era, and it's a damn shame, because the group's... read more

A monster album of Latin soul – arguably the greatest record ever cut by Hector Rivera! The record's a rare cooker that never lets up at all – a non-stop boogaloo party that definitely lives up to its swinging cover image – and which is quite different than most other albums from... read more

A killer set of heavy Latin numbers from the great Hector Rivera – hiding under the guise of a simple dance record! Back in the late 50s and early 60s, Hector was always getting tagged for the big fads by labels – and made to produce albums that had him jumping on a dance fad bandwagon... read more

Blazing trombone, brilliant vocals, and some really inventive rhythms – one of those sweet 60s sets that show why Mon Rivera was way more than just another Latin leader! The tight use of trombones and trumpet almost makes the record a precursor to salsa at some level – but at another,... read more

Beautiful work from Arsenio Rodriguez – recorded in New York in the early 60s, with a sound and style that's a bit more subtle than some of his other albums – but a sound that's totally great! Singers include Raffi Martinez, Israel Castro, and Chewi Rivera – and the arrangements... read more

An incredible record and very unique – cut around the same time as Arsenio's rare boogaloo album for Tico Records! Like that session, this one has a style in which Arsenio is featured in a larger group – playing with a raspy edge that really steps out in front of the fuller instruments... read more

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A nice little session of Latin jazz – percussive at the bottom, but with an overall jazz mambo feel that's similar to early 50s work by Chico O'Farrill. Tracks are shortish, but have some nice solos by unnamed players – and titles include "Hi Fi Mambo", "Mambo A La... read more

Not just 70s New York salsa, but a range of different styles – all packaged together with a focus that's mostly aimed at the Latin dancefloor ! Most of the work here is still relatively rootsy – pulled from the Salsa International/Mary Lou Records catalog – with a sound that's... read more

70s grooves from the New York scene – but played by a group with a strong ear for Cuban roots! Armando Sanchez's combo here really focuses on older Cuban tipico sounds – using instrumentation that's heavy on percussion, guitar, tres, and trumpet – often woven together in ways... read more

A wonderful tribute to Dizzy Gillespie – put together by trumpeter Arturo Sandoval – who can not only claim a big influence from Diz, but a number of past musical partnerships as well! The setting is great – not the simple bop mode that you'd usually get from other Diz tributes... read more

An excellent obscure Mongo Santamaria album – and one that features a nice jazzy groove played by one of Mongo's best groups ever! The band features Joao Donato, the famous Brazilian pianist, doubling up on trombone on a number of tracks – something you never hear on his Brazilian... read more

A great live Santana set, recorded in Japan in '73 and never released on vinyl in the US! The band here is at their peak, and this set features a nice large lineup that includes Tom Coster, Richard Kermode, Doug Rauch, Armando Peraza, Jose Chepito Areas and Michael Shreve, plus Leon Thomas on... read more

A hard-driving Latin set from early 70s Japan – served up in a non-nonsense mode that's arguably more classic than most American work of the time! The group is very heavy on percussion – with Segami in the lead, but a handful of other players providing strong accompaniment too –... read more

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... read more

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The third LP from supremo salsa combo Sonora Poncena under Papo Lucca's direction and a wonderful early production effort from the great Larry Harlow, to boot! Algo De Locura is a great record that's been overlooked for decades and it sounds as great to us as their earlier couple of albums –... read more

A surprisingly great batch of modern salsa tracks – recorded with a really classic feel! The group's led by pianist/arranger Oscar Hernandez – and it features work by a number of older salsa legends, including Jimmy Sabater, Ruben Rodriguez, and Bobby Allende. Tight all the way... read more

A soaring stormer from the Spanish Harlem Orchestra – a contemporary group, but one who plays with some really classic Latin jazz modes! The group's always been great, but this may well be their best album to date – full of rich tones, bold colors, and tight rhythms that keep things... read more

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Pete Terrace challenges Pete Rodriguez for the title of "King Of The Boogaloo" in this live set recorded at Chez Jose in New York! The album's got a few tracks that say boogaloo, but which aren't – but that's still ok with us, because the bulk of the set is a hard grooving batch of... read more

One of the most obscure albums ever cut by Latin vibes genius Pete Terrace – and one of the best, too! The album's got a great mix of jazzy and soulful influences – a sound that's a fair bit groovier than some of Pete's other, earlier records – with a hard swinging on most... read more

A fantastic record, and one of our most treasured Latin Soul albums from the late 60s! Ray Terrace leads a totally sharp little Latin combo through a host of originals and soulful covers, and the real highlight of the record is Willie Torres, who sings English vocals in a very deep soulful style... read more

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... read more

Monster Latin jazz and boogaloo – all the way through! The album's a rare gem from the short-lived Latin Soul years on Decca – cut by Ozzie Torrens, and featuring a great Latin lineup that includes Louie Ramirez on vibes, Charlie Palmieri on piano, and Manny Duran on trumpet –... read more

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Piano and bass, a beautiful combination – handled here in a relatively lively mode at the Village Vanguard! The album's filled with magical interplay between the piano of Bebo Valdes and bass of Javier Colina – ringing out in styles that definitely hearken back to Afro-Cuban roots, yet... read more

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A stunner of an album – and a really unique Latin percussion jam from the 70s! The session's headed by the legendary Carlos Patato Valdez – who arguably sounds better here than on any of his earlier albums – as he's working with a really fluid, open groove – achieved in the... read more

One of the excellent albums cut by conga player Patato Valdez for the Latin Percussion label – and a tight stripped-down jam session with a very traditional Afro-Cuban feel! The groove is pure New York Latin – with the wonderful "return to basics" sound that LPV was... read more

Stone slamming boogaloo – and one of the greatest albums from a young Bobby Valentin! Bobby's really cooking on all burners here – mixing together a bit of Latin jazz with a headier, trippier style of Latin soul – one that features lots of sinister undercurrents in the rhythms,... read more

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Bobby Valentin was certainly the king of the bass by the time of this record – and a player who'd helped bring the electric instrument from its strong 60s use in Latin Soul to one of the key components in salsa rhythms of the 70s! The set follows very strongly in bold sound of Valentin's... read more

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Features arrangements by Joe Cain and Javier Vasquez!... read more

The obscure second album from Emiliano Zapata – one of the coolest groups on the Mexican scene of the early 70s! Like the first, this one's got a quality that's right up there with the best South American psych of the time – fuzzy guitars mixed with funky rhythms, and some occasionally... read more

Puerto Rican salsa from Zaperoko – a group who weave together strands of traditional rhythms into a sweet new groove! The album's got a rock-solid feel right from the start – the mix of tradition and contemporary energy that makes some of these 80s Montuno sessions so great –... read more

An overlooked salsa gem from the New York scene of the 80s – one of those great Montuno Records albums that was a lot more rootsy than most other work of the time! The group work here with a blend of salsa energy and deeper Afro-Cuban roots – especially on the percussion, which really... read more

A great mix of Afro rhythms and timeless dance music from Mexico – mid 60s to late 70s recordings in a continuous mix by Tropicaza for Mochilla – and a strong statement on the diversity of Mexican music of the period! There's quite a stylistic breadth here of Mexican music that was no... read more

Think that groovy sounds in London only started with the acid jazz scene at the end of the 80s? Think again – because in the years before, The Bass Clef was a real hotspot of cross-cultural activity – helping to spark the fire that would burn strongly in the Dingwalls years and beyond!... read more

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Not so much an introduction to Latin jazz, as it a wonderful collection of Latin-tinged tunes from the mighty catalog of Blue Note Records – and not just New York and Cuban Latin grooves, but also a fair bit of bossa nova and Brazilian sounds too! The 3CD package is overflowing with goodness... read more

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Mad music from the Argentine scene of the 70s – tracks so great, we're counting our cash for a record-digging trip to Buenos Aires! The tunes here are way funkier than you might expect – numbers that often have Spanish language lyrics, but which feature instrumentation that's clearly... read more

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RCA compilation featuring work by Esquivel, Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Xavier Cugat, and Russ Garcia. We're not sure if this stuff is exclusive to this album, but it's a great compilation anyway. Tracks include "Tampico" and "Sand In MY Shoes" by Tito Puente, "Night Music... read more

One of the deepest digs we've ever seen into the rich array of grooves from Colombia – a double-length page that covers a much wider range of sounds than you might expect! Colombia's unusual amongst Latin American nations, in that it's got kind of a "crossroads" sort of role –... read more

One of the deepest digs we've ever seen into the rich array of grooves from Colombia – a double-length page that covers a much wider range of sounds than you might expect! Colombia's unusual amongst Latin American nations, in that it's got kind of a "crossroads" sort of role –... read more

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A very different side of the sound of Fania Records – tracks that draw heavily from the club and disco rhythms of the New York scene of the 70s, but serve up the music with a sweet little Latin twist! The set really illustrates the evolution of Latin Soul from the 60s – showing a... read more

A killer batch of boogaloo and Latin Soul – and a set that even features 2 unissued gems from the vaults of Fania Records! As with the previous entry in this series, the sound here is plenty darn soulful throughout – lyrics that are often in English, and rhythms that borrow heavily... read more

A killer batch of boogaloo material – but not from the usual sources! Although boogaloo is a genre normally associated with the New York scene at the end of the 60s, the music here all hails from Peru and represents a great new sound – music inspired by the Nuyorican originals, but... read more

A second amazing set of grooves from the Peruvian scene of the 60s – upbeat Latin sides that easily rival the greatness of work at the time from New York, Colombia, or Puerto Rico! The Peruvian approach is a bit different than the rest – often a hybrid of outside influences, recast... read more

A fantastic set in Vampi Soul's Gozalo series of tropical grooves from Peru – cumbia, mambo, boogaloo and other of the late 60s sounds that work together masterfully, and lay the groundwork for international salsa and other Latin styles to come! Gozalo Vol 4 features numbers by Coco Lagos,... read more

Classic Latin, beautifully remixed – as a host of Fania Records gems are given a fresh twist by Louie Vega, Joe Claussell, Gilles Peterson, and others! The package is way more than you might expect – not clunky remixes of Latin styles, but some beautiful numbers that really expand the... read more

Great Latin grooves from Atlantic Records! It's a little known fact that Atlantic Records actually had a pretty hot Latin catalog at one time – and even though the label was best-known for their soul and jazz releases, they also took the time to cut a rare few Latin sides, all with the same... read more

Tracks by Gary McFarland, Gabor Szabo, Cal Tjader & others.... read more

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A tremendous overview of Carribean sounds from the 50s through the 70s – served up with exactly the kind of depth and care we've come to expect from the folks at Soul Jazz Records! The collection goes way past the obvious – and way past any obvious cliches as well – to really dig... read more

A tremendous overview of Carribean sounds from the 50s through the 70s – served up with exactly the kind of depth and care we've come to expect from the folks at Soul Jazz Records! The collection goes way past the obvious – and way past any obvious cliches as well – to really dig... read more

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A wonderfully offbeat strain of European pop from the 60s – rare recordings from the Catalonian area, that weird space in Spain that's also linked to southern France and the Mediterranean islands as well! There's a really playful feel to most of these numbers – and although many cuts... read more

A wonderfully offbeat strain of European pop from the 60s – rare recordings from the Catalonian area, that weird space in Spain that's also linked to southern France and the Mediterranean islands as well! There's a really playful feel to most of these numbers – and although many cuts... read more

A cool little compilation that's as groovy as you might guess from the title – and one that finally brings to light the lesser-known genre of chica – an odd fusion of cumbia rhythms with more psychedelic-styled instrumentation on farfisa, organ, and guitar! The core grooves remind us a... read more

Tripped-out sounds from the 60s and 70s, plus a few key contemporary cuts too – all a great way of serving up the sound of Latin music at its trippiest! New York Latin acts borrowed plenty from psychedelia early on – and the groove kept growing and changing as it made its way down the... read more

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A treasure trove of 50s and 60s music from Puerto Rico – and a killer compilation centered around the pioneering work of percussionist Rafael Cortijo and singer Ismael Rivera! Essentially, this a blueprint for the global salsa, tropical and Latin scenes to come – and it's invigorating... read more

If there's one thing we've learned over the years, it's that soul music can come from anywhere – as you'll hear in this amazing collection of grooves from the Spanish scene of the late 60s and early 70s! The artists here take plenty of inspiration from American artists of the 60s – not... read more

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... read more

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... read more

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Tropical funk, hazy rhythms, and simmering Afro funk & soul from the Caribbean – a killer collection put together by Hugo Mendez– fantastic stuff from Barbados, St Lucia, Jamaica, Trinidad, St Vincent and beyond! Tropical Funk Experience does a great job of pulling together the a... read more