A nice record from Ruiz and one that really combines jazz elements with a Latin sound. Ruiz composed and arranged the songs on the record and plays piano as well. His ensemble consists of such players as Lew Soloff on trumpet, Steve Turre on trombone & seashells, Sam Rivers on flute and tenor & soprano sax, Russell Blake on electric bass and Ignacio Berroa on drums, plus others. The tracks include "Home Cookin", "Puerto Rican Children", "Four West", "Something Grand", "Sunrise Over Madarao", and "One Step Ahead". (Jazz, Latin) LP, Vinyl record album

A soul jazz Latin classic – one that matches the searing tenor work of Eddie Lockjaw Davis with the hard-hitting conga of a young Ray Barretto! The core group of the set is a soul jazz one – with Lockjaw blowing over rhythm by Lloyd Mayers on piano, Larry Gales on bass, and Ben Riley on drums – plus a small added trumpet section on a few tracks. Ray comes into the mix with some really tight percussion on the bottom, aided by a few other players at times – kicking up the tunes and giving them a lot of fire – something that Davis seems to really respond to in his horn. Thanks should also be given to arranger Gil Lopez, who put together the overall sound of the set – and the album's a hard groover all the way through, filled with Latin jammers like "Wild Rice", "Jazz-a-Samba", "Guanco Lament", "Afro Jaws", and "Tin Tin Deo". (Jazz, Latin) LP, Vinyl record album

A soul jazz Latin classic – one that matches the searing tenor work of Eddie Lockjaw Davis with the hard-hitting conga of a young Ray Barretto! The core group of the set is a soul jazz one – with Lockjaw blowing over rhythm by Lloyd Mayers on piano, Larry Gales on bass, and Ben Riley on drums – plus a small added trumpet section on a few tracks. Ray comes into the mix with some really tight percussion on the bottom, aided by a few other players at times – kicking up the tunes and giving them a lot of fire – something that Davis seems to really respond to in his horn. Thanks should also be given to arranger Gil Lopez, who put together the overall sound of the set – and the album's a hard groover all the way through, filled with Latin jammers like "Wild Rice", "Jazz-a-Samba", "Guanco Lament", "Afro Jaws", and "Tin Tin Deo". (Jazz, Latin) CD