Latin — New Arrivals   New Arrivals Last Two Days 1st Time at DGA  

Classic Cuban jazz material from the group of trumpeter Rolando Aquilo – done in a style that's a bit tighter than some of the other Jam Session albums from the time, but still plenty darn great! Rolando's trumpet is firmly in the lead on most tracks, but the overall presentation is still... read more

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A cheesy cover, but a really top-shelf effort from Ray Barretto – one that has him standing strongly in the early 80s, at a time when most other leaders of his nature were beginning to falter! The record's still strongly in the Barretto salsa mode of the 70s, but it's also got a jazzy... read more

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One of the most soulful records ever recorded by Joe Bataan – a sweet blend of harmony soul and east coast styles, done in a mode that's a bit less Latin than some of his earlier records – but really wonderful overall! The style here is almost late 60s Philly soul – particularly... read more

A really top-shelf album from Justo Betancourt – a perfect illustration of the power of his vocals at their height! The set's got a really classic 70s salsa feel – a horn-heavy groove that almost effortlessly flows from a combo of strong players, topped by majestic vocals from Justo... read more

Ruben Blades's first album – recorded shortly after his arrival in New York from Panama, with top-notch backing by the band of Pete Rodriguez! The album's an interesting one, in that it catches Ruben shortly before the salsa era, singing in a mix of styles that reminds us of some of Jimmy... read more

Latin soul percussionist Willie Bobo hits a new dimension here – singing as well as playing timbales, hitting a groovy groove that's perfect for his rough and ready vocals! The track list is a mix of 60s soul covers and a few very tasty original tunes – all done in a mod style that's... read more

A really unique chapter in the career of percussionist Willie Bobo – a rare one-off album for Blue Note – done with a sweet Cali vibe all the way through! Bobo plays his usual percussion, but also sings a bit too – in this charming style that's never too overdone – a deeply... read more

Classic descarga from the inventor of the genre – a host of Cuban recordings from the legendary Cachao! And sure, we love Cachao's revival in later years – but it's this material that still gets us moving the most – his rich blend of Cuban rhythms and jazz instrumentation that... read more

Killer Cuban sounds from Cachao – a set that's definitely done with the "feeling" promised in the title! Jazz is at the core of the set – lots of great instrumental interplay between piano and percussion, tres and trumpet, and bass, of course – guiding the whole thing... read more

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Possibly the greatest album ever from Angel Canales – a 70s salsa classic through and through, and one with great links between the New York scene and Canales' Puerto Rican roots! The tunes are wonderfully heartfelt throughout – sung with a youthful sense of soul that's far different... read more

Plenty of sabor here – a great deep groove that comes from the tight trumpets and punched-up percussion of the group! The album's heavy in montuno modes – and rolls around strongly with a really sharp vibe throughout – even on some of the mellower tracks, which still have this... read more

Tight trumpet and lively rhythms – an overlooked killer from the legendary Chocolate! The set's got a nice mix of roots and 60s New York modes – a bit of a sparkle on the trumpets, but plenty of rough edges on the rhythms – all sewn together by soulful vocals from Filberto,... read more

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... read more

A stunning portrait of one of the best young artists on the New York Latin scene at the end of the 60s! Johnny Colon initially cooked up a groove with a run of some really important Latin Soul albums – and here, as the 70s come on, he's moving into smoking salsa territory with all the... read more

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An early 80s session, but one with a strong 70s salsa vibe – particularly a groove indebted to Willie Colon's crime-era sides for Fania – as you might guess from the image on the cover! The group sports twin trumpets, sparking over lots of lively percussion – and instrumentation... read more

Some hard-cooking salsa from the legendary Cortijo – a set that seems to be from later years, but which has all the sparkle of his classic early work! The horns are nice and tight, and inflected with some of the more modern touches crafted in 70s New York and Puerto Rico – and vocals... read more

The cover alone should be enough to tell you this is a cooker – as Cortijo and Kako go head to head on heavy percussion, working a heavy traditional groove despite the later date of the album! Rhythms are strongly in the plena and bomba modes – with timbales and congas dominating, as... read more

Killer sounds from Cortjio and his classic combo – a group who really helped to redefine the sound of Latin music in the 60s! The group here is at their early best – working with bold vocals from Ismael Rivera right up front – in a mix of tracks that definitely lives up tot he... read more

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A Latin classic from the word "bang"! This album was the one that busted Joe Cuba out of the Latin ghetto – into the sound of 60s soul, early funk, and beyond. The record's a stone winner – filled with boogaloo tracks delivered by Joe's firey young sextet, a killer ensemble... read more

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... read more

Great instrumental grooves from Fajardo – played with a group that's a bit fuller than the usual charanga, but which keeps things lean and tight throughout! Fajardo's flute is at the lead of all tracks – played with a style that's quite sharp, even when sweet – this edge that... read more

Amazing flute work from the legendary Fajardo – a player who was right up there with Pacheco in his pre-percussion years! The set's got a great sharp edge right from the start – a quality that might well come from the production, but which definitely keeps things from ever sounding too... read more

The Fania All Stars pay tribute to older Latin great Tito Rodriguez – in a set of shorter tracks that's really the group's first true outing in the studio! The format here is quite different than the earlier live albums cut by the group – a sound that's a bit more focused, and without... read more

Titles include "Cansancio", "Hay Que Mintir", "Nuestras Vidas", and "Siempre De Ti".... read more

One of our favorite albums ever from the great Clare Fischer – and one of the first to really show his special talents at their best! The sound here is a wonderful blend of jazz, Latin, and Brazilian modes – and in addition to piano, Clare plays plenty of organ on the date –... read more

Fierce funky grooves from the legendary Nico Gomez – a set cooked up in Europe, but heavy with influences from the other side of the Atlantic – from Havana all the way up to New York! There's definitely a Latin groove to the record – one that's similar to other Gomez productions... read more

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A legendary bit of Latin from the New York scene of the 60s – recorded by a host of youthful players working under the direction of percussionist Montego Joe! The group's name is a contraction of "Harlem Youth" – a program in which all players participated, as part of an... read more

Early work by the Lebron Brothers – and a Latin Soul gem that's as groovy as its name! The group have a young, free, genre-blending approach on the record – easily tripping through a mix of Latin rhythms and 60s soul influences, delivering lyrics in both English and Spanish, often with... read more

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Moncho Lena really cooks here on timbales – leading a tight little combo that easily rivals Tito Puente's group of the time! There's a jazzy flourish to most numbers here – as the group is driven by Moncho's rhythms, then opens up on trumpet and piano! Hector Rivera handles the keys,... read more

A contemporary Latin combo, but one with a really unique feel as well – a mix of 60s charanga modes, 50s Cuban roots, and some definite modern phrasing! The group has a really wonderful blend of flute, violin, trombone, tres, and percussion – and congolero Hector "Papote"... read more

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Funky fusion with plenty of Latin touches – a really compelling set from the Nicaraguan scene of the 70s! The album's got the same criss-crossing of influences you'd hear in some of the best Bay Area projects of this type – no surprise since Jose Chepito Areas is a key member of the... read more

A seminal bit of Latin funk from the Bay Area scene of the early 70s – the second album from Malo, and an even harder-hitting jam session than the first! The group are really in top form here – taking off with Santana-inspired riffs that are filled with heavy percussion, soaring organ,... read more

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A masterpiece of Latin jazz – and one of the truest expressions of the genre we can think of! The album's quite unique, especially for the time – a spare, stripped-down presentation of Latin-influenced jazz – a sound that has its roots in the cubop experiments of a decade before,... read more

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One of the grooviest records ever recorded – and pretty darn rare, too! The Moon People – aka Los Astronautas – were a Latin Soul studio band who played behind some of the other killer recordings on the Speed Label. They're best known for their sock-boogaloo instrumental "La... read more

Great stuff – and one of the purest examples we can find of the Latin piano style of the great Noro Morales! Noro plays here without any of the trappings of some of his other records – just working with a small rhythm combo on an all-instrumental set – with tremendous solo work... read more

Killer stuff! This rare boogaloo album is a monster batch of tracks by one of the best combos working the New York scene in the late 60s. The New Swing Sextet were extremely youthful, and at their best moments, they had a great raw sound the mixed Latin Soul and Latin Jazz into an extremely tasty... read more

A lost boogaloo classic! This is one of the rare few records to come out on the tiny Speed label during the 60s – a hotbed of production for some of New York's most unique Latin Soul sides. Like other albums on the label, this set is a nicely messed up batch of tracks that shifts... read more

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Another departure for Pacheco – as he kicks off the 70s with a set of funky instrumental tunes! The tracks on this set are quite different from either his earlier charanga records, or his later salsa ones – and sparkle with the kind of "soul meets Latin instrumental" style of... read more

Great obscure boogaloo album recorded on Decca (and if you know this stuff, you know how hard the Decca albums are to find!) The record indeed lives up to the title in its excitable moments, with some firey playing and an all around propulsive atmosphere, but there are also some pretty delicate... read more

Ahhhhh . . . The wonderful sounds of Joey Pastrana – the hip Latin Soul bandleader who was known to the kids as "Hot" Pastrana! This album's one of his best for Cotique – a strong mix of boogaloo numbers and straighter Latin ones, all played with the kind of fire that was... read more

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Killer Latin soul from Pucho and crew – and an album that's one of their greatest! The record is also one of the earliest by the group, and it features a different lineup than later ones – with William Bivens on vibes, Claude Bartee on tenor, and Vince McEwan on trumpet. There's a bit... read more

A a great little set from Ismael Rivera on Tico! Ismael heads up this tight group that offers perfect backing to his soaring soulful vocals. The whole thing's got really nice percussive groove set up by the timbales, congas and bongo – one that propels the soaring vocals with the tightest... 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

One of the rarest albums by Pete Rodriguez – and key set of music well deserving of the title Latin Soul Man! The album catches Pete at the end of his Latin Soul years – still working in a very catchy blend of boogaloo material, but also stepping into the transitional salsa sounds of... read more

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Mongo cooks mightily – working here at the Montreux Jazz Fest in 1971, with a soaring group that's even more spiritual than any of his records in the 60s! There's definitely a dose of Latin Soul in the mix, but there's a fiercer, more righteous quality to the album too – thanks to the... read more

Sockin soul work from Mongo Santamaria – a real killer of an album, with a dope 70s sound! The album features Mongo hitting a nice blacksploitation mode – fuller arrangements than before, plus lots of electric touches on guitar, bass, and keyboards. Marty Sheller did most of the... read more

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Oooooo-weee – a monster album by one of our favorite talents of the Latin soul era! Monguito Santamaria had a really great way of putting the electric bass right up front in his tracks – kicking things up with a bouncing groove that's as sock-boogaloo as boogaloo can get, and which... read more

A great 70s group – a bit lost in the shifting sands of time, but one who maintained a classic Latin groove, while bringing in a lot of the energy of the younger members of the scene. The group's led by William Millan, who plays bass and tres on the recording, and by Henry Fiol, who sings... read more

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A lost slammer from the Fania catalog of the 60s – the one and only album from the highly dynamic Lenni Sesar! Lenni's got a sound that's quite different from other Latin leaders of his time – very jazzy overall, especially on the uptempo numbers on the set – with a really full... read more

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Two great lost titles from the Atlantic jazz catalog of the 60s! Horizons is a beautiful and oft-overlooked album of modal jazz tracks performed by Chicago jazz musician Ira Sullivan – who normally plays trumpet and tenor, but who also here shows his amazing talent on soprano sax. Sullivan... read more

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A hard and heavy set of Salsa Funk compiled by DJ Lubi Jovanovic – killer material from the 70s hotbed of salsa and funk and modern tracks that carry on the tradition proudly! It's a well chosen selection, featuring material from legends such as Charlie and Eddie Palmieri, Sabu Martinez,... read more

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