A deep dive into the world of Puerto Rican music in the years before salsa and Latin Soul – overflowing with the sounds and styles that also helped forge a huge new wave of expression on the New York scene as well! The package does a great job of pulling together tracks that really get at this prehistory of more familiar Latin modes – beginning with rare tracks from the 78rpm years, then focusing on killer album cuts from the late 50s and early 60s – grooves that were helping Puerto Rico to rival Cuba in terms of fresh rhythms and razor-sharp instrumentation! Just about all of this work has been out of print on any format for many years – including CD – and the package does a great job of tracing the line from San Juan up to New York – with a selection of 44 tracks by artists who include Humberto Morales, Bobby Capo, Orquesta Panamericana, Noro Morales, Cesar Concepcion, Cortijo, Roy Rosario, Ismael Rivera, Chiquitin Garcia, Angel Luis Torruellas, Cuarteto Puerto Rico, Roberto Casillas, Lou Perez, and others. CD

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Really beautiful work from trumpeter Jason Palmer – a fresh young talent, and a hell of a writer too! The tracks here are each based on special places for Palmer – and are each written with a very different feel – not in a way that's gimmicky at all, but which really show the expansive experience and levels of expression that Jason has in his music! The other group members are as sharp as the leader – and include Mark Turner on alto, Godwin Louis on alto, Mike Moreno on guitar, Edward Perez on bass, and Kendrick Scott on drums – all musicians who help make the record one of the most solid, well-conceived records on Steeplechase in a while. Titles include "Falling In", "Urban Renewal", "Rising Sign", "Silver", "American Deceptionalism", "Berlin", and "Bern". CD

Funky Latin psychedelic soul from Perez Prado from the dawn of the 70s – a totally killer batch that we love from the opening note the last second – and a rare one, to boot! 70 has loads of walloping Latin funk instrumentals, incredibly groovy bits and strains of the psychedelia of the time in the swirling organ and guitar. It's never predictable, taking stylistic left turns into mellower and trippier bits, only to return to the tightly snapping funkier sound. It's a really amazing little record, largely instrumental with a couple of vocal tunes, call & response shouts and soul grunts – with titles that include "Simplemente Maria", "Traces", "Guada Guadaloupe", "Vuelveme A Querer", "Mexico 70", "Los Dos Laredos", "La Octavia Religion", "Fanny Bump","Mambo Bump" and more. CD