Nice 50's mambo material from one of the giants of the genre – and a good batch of tracks by Noro that you might not track down elsewhere. Tracks include "Mambo Away", "Humberto's Jump", "The Up & Down Mambo", "Mambo Jive", and "Ku-Kue". LP, Vinyl record album

Enough funk to stop a truck – and a rare collection of tracks made by Senor Soul, a heavy-hitting LA group from the 60s – and the precursor to War! The tunes on the set are pulled from the group's sessions for the Whiz and Double Shot labels, plus a few previously unissued tracks – and the sound is completely sublime for fans who like their funk hard, heavy, and instrumental! Beats are rough, bass is fierce, and there's a good smattering of some Latinized elements – like percussion, flute, and tasy guitar. A few tracks have vocals, but the overall feel is mostly instrumental – and together, the tracks make the set feel like you've just stumbled upon a whole box of rare funky 45s sitting in the basement of a shop on Central Ave! 20 tracks in all – including "The Mouse", "Soul Fiesta", "Make The Funk Jump", "El Loco", "I Dig Rock & Roll Music", "I Ain't Got No Soul Today (What It Is, Y'All)", "Get On Up", "Hypnotizer", "The Sneak", "Poquito Soul", and "Don't Lay Your Funky Trip On Me". (Soul, Latin) CD

Some of the best of the best of The Fania All Stars – magical music from that short stint when the combo were recording for Columbia Records in the late 70s! While at Columbia, the group grew even more than the styles of their roots at the Fania label – picking up some hipper touches of soul, club, and fusion – all of which were worked nicely to tighten up their groove. And while you might think that after playing side-long jams, these shorter cuts could represent a more commercial side for the group – to us, this shift is an important one that has the ensemble taking the old energy of the Latind descarga and bringing it nicely into focus for a huge crossover audience. The cuts here sparkle and glisten with the best non-Latin funk and club of the time – and the CD features 13 tracks from the albums Spanish Fever, Rhythm Machine, Cross Over, and Delicate & Jumpy – titles that include "Coro Miayre", "Ella Fue", "Fania All Stars Cha Cha Cha", "Los Bravos", "Peanuts", "Prepara", "Que Pasa", "Sin Tu Carino", "Isadore", and "Foofer Soofer". CD

The group's name is a reference to a classic Latin jazz instrumental, and the album's title is a reference to a Wayne Shorter song from years back – both of which together give a strong idea of the strength of the record within! These guys play Latin music, but with a lot more complexity on the tenor and trumpet solos as they soar out past the rhythms – with very strong work on horns from musicians who've worked with Incognito, Jamiroquai, and the Brand New Heavies – plus keyboards, percussion, bass, and guitar from musicians with experience in lots of other great groups too! There's a bit of vocals on the record, but the main focus is on instrumentals – titles that include great remakes of "Mahjong", "Black Nile", "Blue In Green", "Lazy Bird", and "Up Jumped Spring". (Jazz, Latin) LP, Vinyl record album

The Downtown Scene is a plenty groovy one – thanks to heavy percussion from Ninapinta, and some great jazzy backings from Jimmy Wisner! The album's a blend of Latin Soul, Latin jazz, and other mod 60s styles – all wrapped together with Verve-like perfection, with supporting players who include Clark Terry on trumpet, Artie Kaplan on sax and flute, Willie Rodriguez on percussion, and Jimmy Wisner on piano and organ! The tunes are jaunty, jumpy, and plenty darn soulful – all instrumental, and with just the sort of hip sound we're always searching for on records like this, but never find done so well. Many tunes are covers, but they're really transformed – and titles include "Downtown", "Mrs Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter", "1-2-3", "The In Crowd", "Help", "It Ain't Me Babe", and "Hang On Sloopy". (Jazz, Latin) LP, Vinyl record album

Lou's normally a straight charanga-type artist, but on this excellent set, he goes for that "New York" sound – meaning that he picks up a sweet bit of Latin funk, and carves out a soulful NuYorican groove! Many tracks have lyrics in English – set to jumpy rhythms often driven by a fair bit of electric bass, handled in a very soul-heavy style. Titles include "Gotta Move", "Oh How I Think About You", "I'll Call Her Monday", "Fryin Pan Man", "Caribbean Woman", "Guajira Con Tumbao", "Pins & Needles", and "Senor Babalu". LP, Vinyl record album