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A great little set from salsa legend Sammy Ayala – an original member of the 50s born Cortijo Y Su Combo orchestra of Puerto Rico – singing warmly and wonderfully on this excellent self-titled set on the Candela label! An all star roster of modern producers and players indebted to Sammy and his style contribute – include Quantic, Nicodemus, Truth & Soul combo Bronx River Parkway, Mo'Horizons and others – but this feels like the work of an old school master, as it should. Timeless stuff and a worthy effort by all! Titles include "Otra Vez", "Invitacion Al Salon", "Corazon" feat Bronx River Parkway, "El La San Sebastian" feat Mo'Horizons, "Huellas De La Ilusion" and more.

The long-awaited return of the Whitefield Brothers – melding global funk and tripped out psychedelia as masterfully as on their massive In The Raw album – and tripping it out and funking it up even more this time! The psychedelic sounds get more pronounced play this time out, but it's still well within the funk realm – gritty drums and percussion under fuzzed out rhythms, keys that range from a jazzy funk groove to thick layers of fuzz and bubbling atmospherics, exotic string accents, heady bass grooves and more. Their reach is global, too, with influences from the east and the west – and a heck of an impressive guest roster – with leftfield MCs on a couple gems – Edan & Mr Lif on "The Gift" and Percee P & MED on "Reverse" – plus Bajka, Brooklyn funk revival masters the El Michels Affair, and fellow psych funk traveller Quantic. Titles include "Joyful Exaltation", "Safari Strut", "Taisho", "Sad Nile", "Ntu", "Pamukkale", "Alin", "Breakin Through" feat El Michels Affair, "Sem Yelesh", "Lullaby For Lagos" feat Quantic, "Chich" and more.