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One of the best albums of the Latin Soul era – a stunning crossover record that borrowed a lot from 60s soul! The title cut's the leadoff one on the set – the tight-grooving "Meditation", a thinly veiled cover of Archie Bell's "Tighten Up" – one that takes the Texas groove uptown in NYC, adds in vocals that have lots of Latinized touches. Other tracks follow with a good mix of grooves and ballads – stepping from upbeat percussion-driven boogaloo to mellower soul, in the style of some of Joe Bataan's best work. Tito Ramos handles the English vocals on the set, and he's got a sad, heartfelt style that brings a lot of honesty to the rough-hewn lyrics of the tracks – and Tony Rojas follows him up with a few Latin numbers that really cook. Great all the way through, and tracks include "Cupid", "Sudden Emotion", "Very Bad Times", "Mr. Slick", and "Cool Clave".

Grand Slam take plenty of inspiration from the P-Funk universe – and as proof of that fact, they've got Gary Mudbone Cooper on vocals for a few tracks on this sweet little set – a record that definitely offers up a 21st Century evolution of the original P-Funk groove! The combo are heavy on basslines and keyboards – often used with that best slinky style that the George Clinton groups hit at the end of the 70s – and occasionally touched by some modern rhythms, although overall the group have a very live funky mode! Vocals are often layered together nicely, and sometimes vocoded too – as a few cuts echo that early 80s shift to more electric funk, particularly from the Zapp generation. Lige Curry sings lead on a few other numbers – and titles include "Long Term Ticket", "You Can't Nickname The Truth", "Camp Down", "Elemelemel", "Streets Of Harlem", and "The Fog".

A massive collection of soulful groovers – tunes that packed the dancefloors in the days before disco, and which definitely show the harder edge of the soul spectrum! The set starts off with mid-60s tunes based around a simple rhythm and a quirky dance gimmick – then branches out into some hard-hitting sock-soul numbers from later in the decade, and eventually slides into some sweet 70s funk! The overview of tunes is a great one, with some tasty familiar numbers, some great obscurities, and a few tracks that have been massively hard to find on CD! Titles include "The Greasy Frog" by Jeb Stuart, "The Matador" by Major Lance, "The Dip" by The Whispers, "Jerk It" by The Gypsies, "The Chicken" by Jackie Lee, "The Meditation" by TNT Band, "Broadway Freeze (parts 1 & 2)" by Harvey Scales & The Seven Sounds, "Walkin The Duck" by The Triumphs, "Temptation Walk" by The Entertainers IV, "Moon Walk (parts 1 & 2)" by Joe Simon, "Bumpin & Stompin" by Garland Green, "Bus Stop" by Fatback Band, and "Do The Sissy" by Albert Collins. 26 tracks in all!

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 from American funk and soul of the late 60s – mixing African-American musical styles with Puerto Rican and Cuban elements – all to come up with a groove that's as fresh today as it was back in the Spanish Harlem scene of the time! Previously unreleased tracks include "Evil Ways" by Pete & Louie, and the full length version of "O Elefante" by Ray Barretto – and other tunes include "Rise Up" by Orchestra Harlow, "Safari" by Tito Puente, "Revolucionando" by New Swing Sextet, "Times Are Changing" by Jimmy Sabater, "MC2" by Willie Colon, "Crystal Blue Persuasion" by Joe Bataan, "Musica Del Alma" by TNT Boys, "Here Comes The Judge" by Pete Rodriguez, "Ape Walk" by Al Escobar, and "Rat Race" by Ralfi Pagan.

Heavy funk with a Latin groove – a wonderful mixing of modes that's completely fresh and unique! The set follows nicely off other El Barrio explorations of late 60s Latin Soul, and traces the groove that emerged in its wake – a blending of hipper funky styles in the 70s with some of the bolder, prouder Latin modes of the time! Unlike Latin Soul, which was concentrated enough to get strong attention at the time, Latin Funk was often a bit more dispersed – just a track here and there, scattered over albums by both older artists and lesser-known newcomers – some of whom gave more famous acts a real run for their money. This overstuffed collection does a great job of pulling together tracks from a variety of different albums over an 8 year span – and it's a perfect introduction to an under-compiled genre that's finally getting its due! Track selection and notes are by the mighty Adrian Gibson – and titles include "You Need Help" by Monguito Santamaria, "Identify Yourself" by Cafe, "Dynamite" by Harvey Averne, "I'm Satisfied" by Joe Bataan, "Together" by Ray Barretto, "Guajiro Bacan" by Azuquita, "Funky Felix" by Seguida, "I Got The Feeling" by Chollo Rivera & The Latin Soul Drives, "There You Go" by Fania All Stars, "I'm Gonna Get To You Yet" by TNT Boys, "Black Dice" by Mongo Santamaria, and "Hot Pants" by Gilberto Cruz.