A very wild album from Ricardo Ray – sort of a mix of Latin soul styles in the mode of work by Mongo Santamaria, but a lot more messed up! The album's got a number of 60s soul covers – but they're done here by Ricardo in kind of a party Latin mode, touched with a bit of garage soul vocals, in a way that makes the whole album quite upbeat and playful throughout – filled with non-stop groovers that keep on delivering the goods! Our favorite cut is the original "Soul Mexico", which has this storming chanting verse, that then unwinds into a totally catchy chorus with overlapping melodic lines – but the whole album's great, and other tracks include "Ya Ya", "I Want You To Be My Girl", "Mony Mony", "Shout", and "Soul Man". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the first albums ever from Ricardo Ray – a really sharp-edged set that's quite different than any of his later work with Bobby Cruz! The groove here is a mix of Latin jazz and boogaloo modes – a really strong sound that draws heavily on Ray's bold piano lines, and which also features tight trumpet work from Doc Cheatham and Pedro Rafael Chapparo – both of whom get some good space to solo on the record! There's a bit of vocals – from Chivirico Davila and a young Bobby Cruz, who's not yet Ray's official musical partner – but the instrumentalists really direct the course of action here, and make the set a standout swinger from the 60s. Titles include "Azucare Y Bongo", "Lookie, Lookie", "Danzon Boogaloo", "Suite Noro Morales", "Guaguanco in Jazz", and a Latinized take on "Swedish Schnapps". LP, Vinyl record album

Smoking early work from the team of Ricardo Ray and Bobby Cruz – the kind of record that marked the pair as one of the freshest new voices to hit Latin music in the New York scene of the 60s! The rhythms and modes are all familiar ones, but they're delivered with a different sort of edge here – partly because of Ricardo's heavy use of dark notes on the piano, but also because there's a nice sense of space in the arrangements that almost points the way towards some of the freer thinkers of the Latin Soul years. Bobby's vocals are well-placed, and very soulful – and Chivirico Davila and Felo Brito also sing a bit on the record too. Titles include an incredible mambo reworking of "Parisian Thoroughfare", done as a longer descarga number that's really great – and other tracks include "Chachita", "Mirame", and "Yenyere". 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

Vocalist Bobby Cruz gets some great backings from Ricardo Ray – on titles that include "Nina", "El Roble", "Shu La La", "Sin Explicacion", "No Puedo", "Patricia", and "Get It All". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of Ricardo Ray's earliest work – recorded in New York in the mid 60s, after Ray had "arrived" from the Puerto Rico scene! The set's actually got a groove that points the way towards the famous Ray sound of years to come – a style that has traces of older mambo modes, but which also extends out in a bold, proud, pre-salsa style with plenty of great lead vocals from Bobby Cruz. There's some great descarga elements in the mix too – tight rhythms with loads of jazzy instrumentation that really makes the record cook. Highlights include the jazzy "El Mulatu", the slamming descarga "Viva Richie Ray", the "monkey twist" "Brother Ray", and the shing-a-ling number "Mambo Jazz"! LP, Vinyl record album

Smoking salsa from one of its greatest proponents in the 70s – the crowd-pleasing Ricardo Ray & Bobby Cruz ensemble, heard here at the height of their powers! Tracks here are mostly tight and lively – arranged by Ray and Cruz with help from Russel Farnsworth – but a few numbers also move into mellower modes too, and have Bobby's vocals taking on mainstream hits "My Way", "Soul & Inspiration", and "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" – but in a very different way than such hits might have been handled during the late 60s Latin Soul years. The approach here is more boundary-less – kind of a "hey, all music can be ours" sort of approach – and Bobby and Ricardo really move past simple boogaloo-ification of soul tracks into the more expansive territory that was their right. Other titles include "Aguzate", "Guaguanco Raro", "Traigo De Todo", and "Amparo Arrebato". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the real standouts in the career of Ricardo Ray and Bobby Cruz – a record of incredible tightness, and one that set a whole new level for Puerto Rican salsa in the 70s! There's still a few traces here of the Latin Soul years – sometimes in the rhythms, at other times in the record's use of an additional female vocalist – who sings behind Bobby's vocals in a really cool way on some of the best numbers. But the main focus here is really on the tightness of the instrumentation – razor-sharp in the arrangements, and served up in a lean mix of piano, trumpets, and percussion. Titles include a nice slow funk remake of "Fire & Rain", plus "Sondido Bestial", "No Tin Pena", "La Vimari", "Cha Cha Huele Chango", and "Volver". LP, Vinyl record album

Hard grooving salsa tracks, with a bit of Latin Soul thrown in for good measure! The album includes the sublime "part 2" version of "Trumpetman", one of Ray's best groovers from the late 60s, and an excellent party Latin tune – plus the tracks "Wakamba", "Ba Ma La La", "Wichita Lineman", "Rumbero Mayor", "Ay! Conchita", and "Baba Coroco". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing follow up to Ricardo Ray's first album of Jala Jala and Boogaloo tracks – a real killer Latin soul set that's even better than the first! The record's got a full-on style that kicks in from the very first note – a blend of uptight Latin tracks and some very groovy 60s-styled numbers with plenty of sock-soul touches – a definite boogaloo influence, but still some strong Puerto Rican modes too. Lyrics are mostly in Spanish, but the grooves have a universal appeal that kicks in no matter what the language! Stormin and groovy all the way through – with tracks that include "Tin Marin", "Mr. Trumpet Man", "More Richie", and "Musica Ye Ye". LP, Vinyl record album

Smoking early work from the team of Ricardo Ray and Bobby Cruz – the kind of record that marked the pair as one of the freshest new voices to hit Latin music in the New York scene of the 60s! The rhythms and modes are all familiar ones, but they're delivered with a different sort of edge here – partly because of Ricardo's heavy use of dark notes on the piano, but also because there's a nice sense of space in the arrangements that almost points the way towards some of the freer thinkers of the Latin Soul years. Bobby's vocals are well-placed, and very soulful – and Chivirico Davila and Felo Brito also sing a bit on the record too. Titles include an incredible mambo reworking of "Parisian Thoroughfare", done as a longer descarga number that's really great – and other tracks include "Chachita", "Mirame", and "Yenyere". LP, Vinyl record album

Don't let the title fool you, because it's similar to the album that Ricardo Ray and Bobby Cruz started off the 70s with – El Bestial Sonido – but the record's something quite different indeed! This set has Ricardo and Bobby exploring a more spiritual side of their music – one that's still socially conscious, and still plenty heavy on the Puerto Rican salsa of their fame – but one that also features all original material with themes of faith and redemption. Of course, if you're not a Spanish speaker, all you'll really notice is that the album's got plenty of salsa grooves – and at some level, that's really the genius of the album – as Ray and Cruz pushed a new sensibility into mainstream salsa audiences. Titles include "Eres Tu", "El Relajo", "Juan En La Cuidad II", "Pra Tra Y Pa Tra", and "El Sonido De La Bestia". LP, Vinyl record album

Not the same Candido that you might know from Salsoul Records or 50s Latin fame – and instead a younger percussionist who cut this legendary album for Joe Bataan's Ghetto Records label! The set's got a rootsy vibe that's mighty nice – right up there with the best of the Fania salsa scene at the start of the 70s – and Candido plays timbales in a group that also features two trumpets, tenor, and trombone – plus lots more piano, bass, and percussion! You might have heard Candido's percussion in the groups of Ricardo Ray or Randy Carlos, but here he's a hell of a leader on his own – on titles that include the mellow soul "Baby Doll", the jazzy "Something Smooth", and the cuts "Palos De Fuego", "Bochinches", "El Lobo", and "Mi Ritmo Cubano". LP, Vinyl record album

By the mid 70s, the New York Latin scene was boomin' so large it could easily fill venues like Yankee Stadium – as you'll hear on this excellent live set from the Fania All-Stars, a monster record that easily ranks with the best live Latin sides of the time – like Eddie Palmieri at Sing Sing, the Tico-Alegre All Stars at Carnegie Hall, or Mongo Santamaria at Yankee Stadium! Tracks are nice and long – a real mix of soul and Latin, with slight funk and electric touches – and players include Ray Barretto, Willie Colon, Bobby Valentin, Mongo Santamaria, Ricardo Ray, and Roberto Roena. Vocals are by a host of singers that include Santos Colon, Hector Lavoe, Ismael Rivera, and Celia Cruz – and titles on this first volume include "Pueblo Latino", "Mi Gente", and "Soy Guajiro". CD

Legendary Japanese series of compilations, featuring some killer Latin groovers selected by the DJ team of Raphael Sebbag (UFO) and Izuru Utsumi! This set's got a very cool blend of 60s and 70s material, with a nice groovy edge that adds a bit of Latin soul to the mix. Titles include "There You Go" by Fania All Stars, "Shade Of Time" by Roberto Roena, "Cobarde" by Ricardo Marrero, "Sha-La Means I Love You" by Louie Ramirez, "Oh Calcutta" by Tony Pabon, "Boranda" by Sonora Poncena, and "Mrs. Robinson" by Ricardo Ray. Lots more nice ones, and limited on vinyl! LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Pepe Aguirre and Orquesta Angel Capriolo, Jorge Omar with Francisco Lomuto and Orquesta Tipica, Orquesta Tipica Victor, Roberto Maida with Francisco Canalo, Alberto Reynal with Juan D'Arienzo, Alberto Vila, Roberto Ray with Osvaldo Fresedo, Jorge Abril with Orquesta Luis Veloso, Antonio Quintanilla with Orquesta Tipico Hermanos Carbone, Ada Falcon with Franciso Canaro, Oswaldo Pugliese, and Ricardo Ruiz. LP, Vinyl record album