A contemporary Cuban group, but one who fit easily in the long cultural legacy of Havana – as the combo have a way of taking timeless modes and making them come alive again in all new ways – often really stripping things down to their roots, with an intimate, earthy presentation that you wouldn't even find on classic Cuban records from many years back! In a way, the style here is similar to some of the recent Gilles Peterson/Brownswood Records projects from Havana – really tapping into the overlooked richness that still flows from the city's corners with a group like this – heavy on percussion, working in a variety of rhythms, often with guitar or tres in the mix – and topped with some wonderfully soulful vocals. Titles include "Caridad", "Na Na Saguey", "Devuelvame La Voz", "Rumbarimbula", "Gaston's Rumba", and "Chichiribako". CD

A fantastic 70s session from Charlie Palmieri – featuring some of his best keyboard solos of the decade, and some very cool work on organ that almost makes us think Sun Ra is in the group! The style is quite unusual, even for Charlie – with a weird sound from his organ that really gives the record an edge – played alongside straighter piano lines, heavy percussion, and lots of warm horn work overall. Charlie's organ really stands out best on the descarga cut "No Esta En Na" and the groovy midtempo "Estoy Friza'o" – but the whole thing's great, and other cuts include "Comelon Hustle", "King Charles", "Dame Tu Corazon", and "Sobando El Piano Merengue". LP, Vinyl record album

A second fantastic tribute to the genius of Sunny Ozuna – the Texas singer who cut some amazing soul records back in the 60s, but often with a vibe that reflected his unique Tex-Mex origins too! Those qualities really come through here in this well-done assortment of tunes – tracks that have all the mellow, slow-stepping energy of sweet soul group material from the east coast scene of the late 60s – but which also have some unusual Texas elements too, even on familiar instruments like trumpet or organ, which often are tuned in slightly weird ways that really set these tunes apart from more conventional soul! Sunny's always in the lead, but often gets some great harmony support – and titles include a killer remake of "Sitting In The Park" – plus "If I Could See You Now", "Give Me Time", "Viva Mi Triestesa", "I Can Remember", "Runaway", "I've Never Found A Girl", "I'm No Stranger", and "Baby I Apologize". (Soul, Latin) CD

Beautiful brown-eyed soul from the Ohio scene of the 70s – just the sort of record you might have expected to hear from East LA or Spanish Harlem back in the day – but even more amazing to come from Cleveland! The group are a Latin combo at the core, but they've soaked up plenty of soul influences from the late 60s and early 70s – bringing in bits of harmony soul, funk, and other hip touches to really expand their groove – in ways that are similar to the changes Joe Bataan and his contemporaries were going through at the time! There's a few funky instrumentals that get nicely tripped out, offset with some wonderful mellow soul numbers, and a few straighter Latin bits – all of which show a really amazing range for the group. As usual, Numero does a great job of bringing their whole story to light through the great notes – but even without them, we're plenty happy with the music on the set! Titles include "Loving You", "To Be Sure", "Here We Go Again", "Cold Wine", "Trivialities", "Just Call Me", and "Listen People". (Soul, Latin) CD