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Percussionist Sabu Martinez is one of the all-time greats of Latin music -- and this record is probably the rarest he ever cut! The album came out of Sweden, where Sabu was residing during the 70s -- enjoying some success as an expatriot jazz player in the European scene. The album mixes Latin ...

Two of Ray Barretto's earliest albums, both recorded for the Riverside label at the start of his career! Latino has an approach to Latin jazz that's certainly informed by the charanga sound of the New York scene in the early 60s -- but one that's also opened up a bit more to new ideas -- bits of ...

Lost grooves from Spanish Harlem -- an incredible set of Latin Soul from The 107th Street Stickball Team! With a name like that, the group certainly aren't as well-remembered as contemporaries like Joe Bataan or Willie Colon, but they've got a soulful groove that definitely fits the style of the ...

An excellent batch of descarga tunes -- very much in the same spirit as Cachao's groundbreaking Cuban work of the early 60s! The format is very loose and free -- similar to some of the Grupo Folklorico y Experimental albums on Salsoul, or to some of the harder Latin jazz sides on the LPV label at ...

A spicy mix of Latin styles from the Peruvian scene of the late 60s -- a wonderfully mixed up batch of modes that goes way beyond the more familiar grooves of the New York scene! The work here is a bit like some of the most inventive styles from Colombia and Panama at the same time -- music that ...

Killer salsa work from Peru -- rare albums from Mag Records by Los Kintos & Sonora Nelson Ferreyra -- on a single CD! We haven't seen a heck of lot of compilations of material from the Peruvian salsa scene of the 60s & 70s, and this set has tightly grooving material -- loads of wonderful ...

One of the funkiest Mexican groups at the end of the 60s -- a hard-hitting combo who could almost go head to head with any American ensemble of the funky 45 generation! Rabbits & Carrots work in a mostly-instrumental mode here -- a style that has just a slight element of Latin in the rhythms, ...

Heavy funk from the Peruvian scene -- the massive first album from Cosa Nostra, and a burning blend of soul, Latin, and psychedelic influences! Cosa Nostra clearly come from the rock end of the spectrum, but have picked up plenty of funky grooves along the way -- and hit a genre-blending style ...

Excellent bit of west coast Latin fusion -- featuring an all star band that includes such massive talents as Pete Escovedo, George Muribus, Paul Jackson, Lenny White, Coke Escovedo, and Victor Pantoja. The groove is nice and smooth, with a Bay Area early 70s sound on the production tip -- and in a ...

Jazzy goodness from Eddie Palmieri -- a recent set that shows him still burning strong after a stunning 50 years in Latin music! The arrangements are spare, but extremely creative -- well-penned jazz charts that allow Eddie plenty of modern moments on the keys of the piano, but which also always ...

A rare Atlantic session from Latin legend Louie Ramirez -- and one of his tightest and hardest-hitting albums of the pre-Latin Soul years! The record features Louie really grooving hard with a group co-led by Ozzie Torrens -- one that mixes just the right amount of jazz into the mix to keep things ...

One of Eddie Palmieri's greatest albums of the 70s -- even though it was recorded for a major label! Like a number of his old counterparts in the New York indie world at the time, Eddie made a move to Columbia Records in the late 70s -- a shift that should have dampened his soul, but which only ...

A killer album of hard instrumental Latin soul tracks -- one of the few albums ever done by funky reed player Mauricio Smith! On the set, Smith plays flute, alto, and soprano sax -- and the record's filled with short little groovers that have a nice choppy sound, and lots of heavy conga work by ...

Gilles Peterson in Havana -- not digging older tracks, but working with a great array of contemporary players in a killer double-length set of grooves! The music here is all freshly recorded, but echoes with 50 years of Cuban styles -- initial modern modes of the postwar years, experiments of the ...

A huge range of live work from Irakere -- tracks recorded live in their native Cuba, but also in Montreux and Newport as well! The material here is all from 1978, and some of it is most likely work that appeared on the group's self-titled album for Columbia Records in the US -- but given that a 6 ...

A fresh new groove from The Fania All Stars -- one that definitely has them picking up some of the Spanish elements mentioned in the title -- the fusing them into the tight mix of Latin, club, and jazz they were doing at Columbia Records in the late 70s! These new elements are often light -- a bit ...

Latin dancefloor grooves from the Peruvian scene -- a bunch of it with a pretty intense, steamy and tightly grooving style -- up there some of the great work coming out NYC or Havana during the period! The common thread is that the artists worked for the Mag Records label -- and also, an ...

Latin sounds from Peru -- killer work in the tradition of better known classic era salsa, booglaloo and other Latin styles -- with some leftfield touches! This is the third in the series of All Star compilations from the Mag Records label -- this one mostly centered around the mid 60s -- a pretty ...

A burner of a set from Tito Puente -- very well titled to suit the energy of the session! The tracks are all highly rhythmic numbers -- short, but filled with jazzy horn flourishes and the kind of snapping rhythms that made the Puente group one of the biggest crossover favorites of the 50s. Tunes ...

Rootsy rhythms from contemporary Cuba -- a beautiful package of work presented on this new Soul Jazz sub-label! Although recorded recently, the record has a really timeless feel -- no surprise, given the long history of the percussion group -- which stretches back over a century, and incorporates ...

An incredible album of Latin funk -- the only-ever record from this west coast combo headed by the legendary Benny Velarde! Benny's a name that you might recognize from earlier, straighter Latin dates for Fantasy -- or for countless studio work during the 70s -- but here, he's really got a talent ...

A night in Havana, served up in a host of classic Cuban grooves! Despite the date range in the title, most of the music here is from the mid 50s -- that great pre-Revolution time when Cuban music was really undergoing a lot of changes -- getting some key modern elements in the mix, not to mention ...

Cuban Pearls galore -- a great collection of danzones and charangas from mid-century Cuba -- brought together in a set that not only serves as a wonderful introduction to the music, but which should also offer plenty to long-time fans of Latin music too! As with other volumes in this series, there' ...

A taste of Latin funk & soul mastery from Ricardo Marrero -- the wholly excellent Taste LP from 1976 -- a record as legendary for its rarity as for the slow cookers and uptempo funky gems on it! It's wonderful stuff, and the kind of record that justifiably revered by the few who've had a ...

A classic underground Latin jazz album from the 70s -- a wonderfully warm session that beautifully mixes older rhythms and a range of soulful jazz styles! The album's one of the few cut as a leader by bongo player Jose Mangual -- whose sweet-stepping rhythms really make the set groove -- and the ...

A nice little album -- despite what might be a gimmicky concept! The set offers up Latin versions of Jewish tunes -- but even that's not much of a gimmick, when you consider how important the Jewish audiences were to the growth of Latin music in the New York in the 50s and 60s. From DJs like ...

Late 80s Latin from Mongo Santamaria -- but still pretty darn nice! The set's got Santamaria stretching out in the rhythms a bit more from the early days -- and also picking up some of the jazz flavors of the Concord label as well -- but overall, the proceedings are still quite tight, thanks to ...

A killer set of percussion-heavy Latin jazz tracks -- one that brings together two different generations of Latin Jazz, working here in a stripped-down groove that's totally wonderful! The album's a real stunner from the legendary late 70s run of the Latin Percussion label -- the imprint started ...

A hell of a trumpeter -- making his debut here on one of the grooviest albums on the legendary Latin Percussion label! The session's a bit fuller than some of the other LP albums -- a crackling blend of jazz, funk, and Latin rhythms -- warm, but with some pretty complicated moments, very much in ...

An obscure album by Willie Bobo -- and a great one too! The session predates Willie's more famous work on Verve, and it catches the percussionist as he's coming off of some very successful years in the Cal Tjader band -- a place where he really picked up a flair for jazzy and lyrical grooves. ...

A smokin bit of salsa from 70s Brooklyn -- one of a rare few albums cut by The Brooklyn Sounds, a totally great group with a really firey spirit! The set grooves hard from the first moment -- with tight horn blasts over fast rhythm, and soulful vocals that really capture the spirit of the time. ...

A cracker of a great 70s salsa album -- one with a tightness and focus that matches the best work of the time on Fania or Vaya -- and which comes across with a really strongly snapping groove! The group's led by vocalist Chino Rodriguez, and features some especially great piano from Jose Lopez Jr ...

A fantastic record that's truly one of Tito Rodriguez's best from the 60s -- a very jazzy affair, and one that breaks the pattern of most of his other albums of the time! As the title implies, Tito's working here live at Birdland nightclub -- with a jazz-based lineup to match the setting, one that ...

A great look at the classic years of Cuban son -- put together with a whopping 49 tracks in all, and a massive full color booklet with notes in French, English, and Spanish! The set's overflowing with key recordings in the famous son style -- a romantic blend of rural elements and urban ...

An obscure but excellent session -- recorded at the end of the 70s with some of the best players in the New York salsa underground! The music is extremely vibrant -- and the styles of the tracks range from hard Afro-Cuban percussion grooving to tight Latin jazz in a classic mode -- with ...

An excellent album of 70s work by this legendary musician from Tipica 73! The record is the debut of Alfredo De La Fe -- a great percussionist and string player with a keen ear for a salsa groove that's steeped in tradition, yet has a forward thinking approach to rhythm. Alfredo's style is a ...

One of the most unique Latin groups of their time -- as you might guess from the group's name and their look on the cover! In a world where most Latin combos were going for class and poise, the Ghetto Brothers moved in another direction entirely -- working here with a fair bit of electric guitar ...

An insanely wonderful bit of Latin funk! The groove is super heavy, and falls somewhere in between NuYorican soul and Chicano Power rock -- with a sound that's pretty close to Black Sugar, but a little bit more psychedelic, due to the heavy guitars and keyboards in the grooves. Hard congas take ...

8 great lost descarga tracks -- all pulled together in one tasty CD! Let's be frank here, the favorite tracks on any Latin album are always the descarga tracks -- so it's great to have a CD like this that pulls together only the hard-hitting jazzy material from some great older records. Titles ...

A tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution -- and a sweet little set that starts and ends with spoken bits from Fidel Castro, yet also includes lots of classic Latin grooves in the middle! Some of the work here predates the revolution, which might make it subject to false ...

Fabulous and fantastic work from Willie Rosario -- a stone cooker from his 60s years, and a set that's hopping with plenty of lively surprises throughout! As with other Rosario work of the time, there's a strong dose of jazz in the mix here -- piano lines that echo the changes that were going on ...

Heavy salsa with a touch of jazz -- thanks to a lineup that matches the trumpet of Chaparro with that of Doc Cheatam and Jose Riollano! The three-horn frontline is nice and bright -- over tight rhythms on timbales, bongos, and congas -- not to mention piano from Eddie Lebron and some well-rounded ...

Chaparro's The Godfather on the cover of this cool early 70s set -- adding in a heavy cover image to back up the record's tight salsa groove! Chaparro was never as much of a bad boy or gangster as Willie Colon, but his group here romps along in similar territory -- with Chaparro's trumpet in the ...

No diva battles here, as all the singers are great, and very much at home with backings from the Orquesta Cubana De Musica Moderna! The CD brings together a variety of early 70s recordings that have leading female Cuban singers working with the group -- in a mode that's somewhat steeped in older ...

Smoking salsa from the legendary Fania Records -- a hip batch of numbers that focuses on the groundbreaking sounds of the New York Latin scene in the 70s! The track selection here is pretty classic, but that's ok with us -- given the strength of the grooves -- and there's also a nice touch of ...

A fantastic bit of lost funky Latin soul from Bobby Marin's Los Africanos -- a killer Nuyorican funk record that's languished unreleased until now -- probably the best rescued record to appear on the Acid Jazz label in years! The album is an exceptional mix of styles, as it came at the dawn of ...

One of the coolest sets so far in the Cuban Pearls series -- not the straight set of Latin Jazz you might guess from the title, but a creatively compiled collection that shows a really great evolution in Cuban music during the mid-century years! There's lots of great vintage material here -- a ...

A brilliant overview of the Latin Percussion label -- the short-lived record company that was started by the famous instrument company! LP was headed up by Martin Cohen -- who got his props on the Afro Temple album from Sabu Martinez -- and Cohen had a really unique ear for recording Latin grooves ...

Long-overdue reissue of this seminal bit of Latin jazz from the early 50s! The CD brings together Machito's 2 different "Afro Cuban Jazz Suites", both written by Chico O'Farrill, and featuring a stunning mix of jazz and Latin playing, in a manner that was to forever shape the future of ...

Easily the greatest collection of Colombian grooves we've ever seen -- a beautifully-done package from Soundway Records, and one that lives up to the high standard we first found in their compilations of African and Panamanian funk! This time around, the focus is on the legendary Discos Fuentes -- ...