Classic 50s work from vocalist Abbe Lane – and a record that's made all the better by some great arrangements from Tito Puente! Abbe's getting past the sexy tricks of other records here – and singing in a dusky tone that works perfect with Tito's tight, choppy, and highly percussive arrangements. The set's got a wonderful blend of Latin and torch – with tracks that include "Take It Easy", "Green Eyes", "The River Seine", "Babalu", "Pan, Amore & Cha Cha Cha", "Noche De Ronda", and "Whatever Lola Wants". (Vocalists, Latin) LP, Vinyl record album

Mongo Santamaria at the height of his Latin Soul years – working on a cool Columbia session titled after an earlier hit, but served up with his new lean sound of the late 60s! The album's got that perfect Santamaria combo from the time – a group that features trumpet and these wonderfully sharp arrangements from the great Marty Sheller – plus very smoking reed work from a young Hubert Laws, wailing away on flute and tenor, and Bobby Capers on alto and baritone – both players who mix jazz and soul instrumental modes, to bring a hell of a lot of feeling to the overall sound of the band – in ways that really get past more familiar use of trumpet or trombone in other Latin combos. The band grooves nicely on original material like "Streak O Lean", "Ricky Tick", "Do It To It", "Fatback", "Coconut Milk", and "Jose Outside" – and they also reprise Mongo's big hit "Watermelon Man". LP, Vinyl record album

Dang! Does David Murray ever stop re-inventing himself? We think not – and this album is great proof of that fact! The set's a really tasty batch of Latin Jazz numbers – played to perfection by Murray and a host of excellent New York musicians, working together in large group format with a sound and style that's at the peak of perfection for this sort of recording. Murray wrote all the tunes, so the album goes way past the cliches of Latin-ized standards that you're probably sick of hearing anyway – and it's steeped in a soulful approach to the genre that really grabbed our ears from the first note! Titles include "Giovanni's Mission", "Sad Kind Of Love", "Mambo Dominica", "Break Out", and "Aerol's Change". (Jazz, Latin) CD