A real cooker – filled with tasty Latin grooves! The sound of the barrio is in full effect – from late 60s Latin Soul to early 70s Latin Funk, all very well-selected from a variety of labels, and put together with a range of grooves that will keep your ears dancing all the way through! The tunes go way past the obvious – enough that the album includes a few tracks we've never heard before, the kind of soulful Latin sides that always keep us looking for more. Titles include "Lay An Oz On Me Baby" by The Latin Blues Band, "The New Breed" by Louie Ramirez, "Ponte Duro" by Roberto Roena, "I'm Satisfied" by Joe Bataan, "Yroco" by Jimmy Sabater, "La Verdad" by Cortijo & His Time Machine, "Cisco Kid" by La Crema, "Return To Spanish Harlem" by Tony Middleton & Bobby Matos, "You Need Help" by Mongo Santamaria, and "Yo" by Bobby Valentin. (Funky Compilations, Latin) LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary bit of cubop! Diz is playing here with the band that virtually invented Latin Jazz – the one that featured Chano Pozo on conga, plus great soloists like James Moody and Ernie Henry – all blowing beautifully in a style that's one of the most perfect realizations of the cubop Latin Jazz groove of the time! The recording was done live, but the quality's strong – and titles include "Good Bait", "Emanon", "Ool Ya Koo", and a classic reading of "Manteca"! (Jazz, Latin) LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing early work from Ricardo Ray – material that's got a lot more fire than some of his better-known sides from the 70s! The album's a stone cooker all the way through – played by a tight young group with lots of descarga energy in their blood, and some of the pre-Latin Soul styles that were creeping around the New York scene – that cool combo sound that Joe Cuba was getting with his own group. Bobby Cruz is already with Ray at this point, and he does a great job on the vocal numbers on the album – but the real treat is Ricardo's group – who play with a hard jazzy intensity on the best tracks. These include the descarga "Here Comes Richie Ray", the jazz mambo "Jango", the jazz descarga "Theme", and the storming "Mi Guaguanco". Other cuts include "Summer Love", "The Shadow Of Your Smile", and "El Montuno De Hoy". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing early work from Ricardo Ray – material that's got a lot more fire than some of his better-known sides from the 70s! The album's a stone cooker all the way through – played by a tight young group with lots of descarga energy in their blood, and some of the pre-Latin Soul styles that were creeping around the New York scene – that cool combo sound that Joe Cuba was getting with his own group. Bobby Cruz is already with Ray at this point, and he does a great job on the vocal numbers on the album – but the real treat is Ricardo's group – who play with a hard jazzy intensity on the best tracks. These include the descarga "Here Comes Richie Ray", the jazz mambo "Jango", the jazz descarga "Theme", and the storming "Mi Guaguanco". Other cuts include "Summer Love", "The Shadow Of Your Smile", and "El Montuno De Hoy". LP, Vinyl record album

Groundbreaking Latin Jazz – and an essential 2LP set! The album brings together classic work for Norman Granz' Verve and Clef labels in the cubop mode – including Dizzy Gillespie's Manteca Suite, Machito's Afro-Cuban Suite, titles by Chico O'Farrill, and others recorded in 1949 and arranged by Rene Hernandez. Players include Machito, Charlie Parker, Diz, Mario Bauza, Eddie Bert, Flip Phillips, Chano Pozo, and Jos Mangual – and the quality of the work unifies the sessions wonderfully, even though they were recorded separately over a 5 year period. LP, Vinyl record album

The cover image here will give you a great idea of the vibe of the record – as Melochita was a comedian as well as a Latin musician, and brings a great sense of playful wit to the album! A number of cuts feature vocals that have this really odd, almost cartoony style that's totally great – yet there's also straighter vocal selections too, to balance things out – all while the group are delivering the kind of rock-solid grooves that make Peru's classic Mag Records material so great, and so ripe for rediscovery! The sound is almost like mid 60s New York combo Latin, but refracted as if it's come from a different dimension – on titles that include "Ahorita Va Llove", "Libre De Pecado", "Trisagio Del Soltero", "Pa Goza Candela", "No Es Un Gato", and "Los Goles De Pele". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the hippest compilations of boogaloo work we've ever stocked – and one that goes way past the bigger names on Fania or Tico, into the underground of small labels from the late 60s! The tunes here are all especially rare – issued originally on labels that include Speed and Ghetto, and brought together beautifully here with an ear for soulful vocals, snapping rhythms, and some of the grooviest styles of the Latin Soul generation! The Speed recordings are especial favorites of ours, because the label had a really great way of setting up a groove, and often broke from more conventional Latin modes to hit some very unique rhythms. But all the work here is totally great – and titles include "Alla Tu" by Conjunto Universal, "Do Your Shing A Ling" by Pijuan, "I'll Be A Happy Man" by Latin Blues Band, "Return To Spanish Harlem" by Tony Middleton & Bobby Matos, "Latin Soul Boogaloo" by Paul Serrano, "One Way Ticket" by The Real Thing, "Symphony Sid In Acapulco" by Frankie Nieves, "Brass Boogaloo" by Sounds Tropicana, "Hippy Skippy Moon Strut" by Moon People, and "Mi Negra Va Gozar" by Paul Ortiz. (Funky Compilations, Latin) LP, Vinyl record album

A smoking overview of work from the glory days of the Venezuelan scene – that moment when the nation's economy was opening the doors to rich new avenues of expression – including the important Discomoda label, which recorded all the gems on this set! The vibe is great – kind of a sideways take on NYC Latin modes of the years involved, but with some of the rootsier elements you might expect from Colombian work too – all presented with really stark, simple, no-nonsense production that really makes the music burst out loud! The selection of tracks here is great – all killer, no-filler, with a focus on the best Discomoda grooves from this stretch – 21 tracks that include "Mambo Tema" by Genaro Y Sus All Stars, "Disparo Goajira" by Nelson Y Sus Estrellas, "No Salgas De Tu Barrio" by Los Kenya, "Fiesta En Venezuela" by Los Satelites, "Lija" by Rodrigo Mendoza, "Mi Rendencion" by La Renovacion, "Analiza" by Principe Y Su Sexteto, "Juana Guaguanco" by Supercombo Los Tropicales, "Algo Diferente" by Johnny Sedes Y Su Orquesta, "Muneca" by Los Megatones De Lucho, "Pero En Caracas" by Sonora Venezuela, "Maracaibo" by Microbanda Marabina, and "Oye Como Suena"b y Orquesta Sonoramica. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the hippest sets we've ever seen on Spanish Harlem – a collection that goes way past the Latin Soul hits, to dig deep in the uptown underground at the end of the 60s! The package is compiled with gems from the Fania catalog, but rally moves past the obvious – going for some of the more obscure artists who recorded singles for some of the smaller Fania-held labels – and often focusing on tunes that drew more from late 60s soul and funk than they did from any Latin rhythms of the time. The singers are especially wonderful – and often hit a vibe that's right up there with some of Joe Bataan's best of the period – richly soulful, but often deeply personal too – never as polished as chart soul, and often showing a grittier, more realistic style that's totally great – especially when mixed with instrumentation as tight as this! Titles include "Reflections Of My Life" by 125th Street Candy Store, "On Old Broadway" by 107th Street Stickball Team, "Don't Be Afraid" by Lebron Brothers, "Central Park" by Harvey Averne Dozen, "Heaven" by Tito Ramos, "Your Smile" by Parris, "Some Lonely Heart" by Ronnie Marks, "There's No Girl" by Olivieri, "Maria Maria" by King Nando, "Already Satisfied" by Tony Middleton & Bobby Matos, "Nitty Boo Boo" by The Nitty Sextette, "Lonely Has Been My Day" by Ralphie & The Latin Lovers, "I'm Gonna Leave You" by Russell Cohen & The New Yorkers, and "Ain't No Big Thing" by Ralfi Pagan. (Funky Compilations, Latin) LP, Vinyl record album

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 nicely mix up vocals with some more pronounced jazz soloing – getting a heck of a lot into a relatively small space, and really keeping up the energy of the record overall. Ray Barretto's on congas – and other players include Vincent Frisaura and Frank LoPinto on trumpets, Gerry Sanfino and Rafael Tata Palau on saxes, Ray Conception on piano, and Robert Rodriguez on bass. A few cuts have lead vocals – sung by Santos Colon – and titles include "3-D Mambo", "Hong Kong Mambo", "Mambo Gozon", "Saca Tu Mujer", "Varsity Drag", and "El Cayuco". LP, Vinyl record album