Candido cut sooo many great Latin records over the years, spanning a wide range of styles, we have a hard time deciding which we love the best. We like to think this may be his best album from the early part of his career, specifically because it features the master conga player amidst a tight jazz lineup, who leave him plenty of room to solo and just plain get down doing his thing. Dick Hyman's on organ, Joe Puma's on guitar, and Ernie Royal's on trumpet, with George Duvivier and Charlie Persip in the rhythm section. 8 tracks in all, including "Afro Blue", "Caravan", "Softly But Blue", "Blue Lou", "Blue Prelude", "Bongo Baby", "Blue Dirge" and "Candido Cocktail". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent early album from Latin leader/trumpeter Willie Rodriguez – one of his gems for the Fonseca label, with vocals from Leo Casino – a tight mix of Latin Soul, descarga, and salsa tracks that hit hard from the start and don't let up! Rodriguez leads a great band, and they're joined by vocalist Casino some of the tracks – with tunes that have an uncommon, heated intensity without sacrificing the groove – some of it with the feel of an after hours session full of players just hit with a mighty second wind, and others that are just straight up tirelessly driven. The whole set cooks really nicely! Titles include "Dig It", "Descarga DJ", "Pussycat Bugaloo", "Simon", A Mi Negra". "Golden Bugaloo", and "Chickie's Choice". LP, Vinyl record album

A mid 60s masterpiece from Mongo Santamaria – pre-Latin Soul, and cooking all the way through! The album's one of the strongest realizations of the Santamaria genius at Columbia – and features heavily cooking arrangements from the great Marty Sheller, who also plays trumpet in the group. It's the horn work that really makes this session groove, too – as Marty's bright and brassy trumpet comes into play with slyly soulful reed work from Hubert Laws on flute and tenor, and the excellent Bobby Capers on alto & baritone sax! A few numbers have a straighter Latin feel – nicely offsetting the rhythmic Santamaria groove with a few more introspective moments – and titles include "La Justicia", "Lucky Mambo", "Casabe", "El Bravo", "Black Stockings", and "Miedo". LP, Vinyl record album