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

A really unique little record from Herbie Hancock – one that's almost completely improvised over Latin percussion! The setup is quite spare – and quite different than Herbie's other Blue Note work – and the group features improvised backgrounds by bassist Paul Chambers and 2 Latin percussionists, Willie Bobo and Osvaldo "Chihuahau" Martinez. Herbie only wrote simple sketches for the songs on the album, and most of the work on the tracks was done live, spontaneously, in the studio – creating a very free groove that never goes too far out, but which is far more adventurous than usual. All tracks are long, and titles include "Succotash", "Triangle", and "Mimosa". LP, Vinyl record album

A really unique little record from Herbie Hancock – one that's almost completely improvised over Latin percussion! The setup is quite spare – and quite different than Herbie's other Blue Note work – and the group features improvised backgrounds by bassist Paul Chambers and 2 Latin percussionists, Willie Bobo and Osvaldo "Chihuahau" Martinez. Herbie only wrote simple sketches for the songs on the album, and most of the work on the tracks was done live, spontaneously, in the studio – creating a very free groove that never goes too far out, but which is far more adventurous than usual. All tracks are long, and titles include "Succotash", "Triangle", and "Mimosa". CD

A hell of a collaboration – core sounds by Madlib, which are then re-arranged by Kieran Hebden – at a level that seems to open up new dimensions in both artists! The sound is definitely Madlib's, but there's also a sense of majesty that seems to flow through the whole thing – almost as if David Axelrod was helping the beatmaker to find a new vision in the studio. And while some of Hebden's work can be a bit cold or too obtuse, there's none of that here at all – as the Madlib elements really keep things rooted to the ground, and in strongly funky territory too – all instrumental, but with voices drifting in and out of the mix as needed. Titles include "Theme De Crabtree", "Road Of The Lonely Ones", "Riddim Chant", "Hopprock", "Loose Goose", "One For Quartabe/Right Now", "Latino Negro", and "The New Normal". LP, Vinyl record album