Features the long "Mosaico Salsero" – plus "El Palo", "Rosa Angelina", "Los Barcos En La Bahia", "El Martillo", and "El Nativo". LP, Vinyl record album

Lots of tight salsa cuts from Joe Arroyo – including "Por Ti No Morire", "Fuego En Mi Mente", "Las Cajas", "En Barranquilla Me Quedo", and "Quien Lo Sabe Baila". CD

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One of the most hard-hitting early albums from the legendary Fruko – a set that really lives up to the powerful image on the cover and the title of the record – almost as if Fruko's trying to answer the badass energy of Willie Colon on the New York scene! The record definitely burns as hard as any of Willie's best from the time, but with that earthier groove that Fruko did so well – that quality that made his music from the time such a fresh, powerful new voice that showed the world that Colombia had plenty of great sounds of its own to offer – served up with styles that owned nothing to NYC or PR at all! Vocals are by Joe Arroyo and Wilson Saoko – and titles include "Salsa Na Ma", "Alma Navidena", "Mosaico Matancero", "La Nueva Bamba", "Vamos Pa'L Campo", "Rumba En Navidad", "Tronco Seco", "El Violento", "Nadando", and "Tu Solo Tu". LP, Vinyl record album

Music from Sonora Carruseles, Joe Arroyo Y La Verdad, La Sonora Dinamita, Los Nemus Del Pacifico, Gabino Pampini, Los Titanes, Fruko y sus Tesos, The Latin Brothers, Los Del Caney, Yolanda Rayo, Los Golden Boys, and more. CD

Billy's got no "inner conflicts" here – as the album's a full-on set of heavy jamming, one that features some nice electronics alongside Billy's drums! The album's actually one of our favorite Cobham sessions of the 70s – a record that we'd rank right up there with Spectrum for sheer intensity, and for its ability to appeal to our funk-tuned ears. The variety of rhythms on the record is really really great – earthy and tribal one minute, and electric and spacey the next – all coming off well without trying too hard, and with a feel that's much more jazzy and soulful than some of Billy's more rock-focused work. Players include George Duke as Dawilli Gonga on keyboards, John Scofield on guitar, Julian Priester on trombone, Jimmy Owens on trumpet, and Pete & Sheila Escovedo on percussion. Titles include "Inner Conflicts", "Arroyo", "El Barrio", "Nickels & Dimes", and "The Muffin Talks Back". CD

A killer batch of tracks from this young Swiss trumpeter – with a sound and style that recalls the best spacey jazz funk moments of the 70s! This is an all-instrumental US Blue Note release that combines the instrumental tracks from Truffaz's French Blue Note albums Bending New Corners and The Dawn, plus a few that appear to be instrumental remixes of tunes that originally contained a rapper. Truffaz is one of our favorite new talents – and he's got a sound that's a mix of Eddie Henderson and electric Miles Davis, and the records feature some excellent Fender Rhodes work backing him up. Titles include "The Dawn", "Bending New Corners", "Betty", "And", "The Mask", and "Arroyo". CD

An excellent set of smooth funky fusion tunes cut by Brazilian trumpeter Marcio Montarroyos – done in a style that's partly like some of Freddie Hubbard's albums of the sort, but which also has a mixture of Brazilian percussion and electronic touches – similar to early 80s work by Azymuth! The blend of styles is a great one – making things darker than you'd think for an album on Columbia a the time, and creating a nice juxtaposition between the earthy and the smooth that really keeps things fresh! Titles include "Christina", "Samba Solstice", "Sky Dive", "Ocean Dance", and "Aruanda". LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant pairing of talents – Brazilian trumpeter Marcio Montarroyos and the soulful Stone Alliance group of the 70s – coming together here in Rio with extra help from Hermeto Pascoal on reeds, and added work from Brazilian musicians David Slon, Dom Bira, and Erasto De Holanda Vasconcelos! The style is tighter and harder than the usual Brazilian jazz of the time – a bit fusiony at points, but always with a richer vibe that's almost more in a 70s Latin jazz mode – maybe because of the strong bottom end from the trio of Gene Perla on bass, Don Alias on drums, and the mighty Steve Grossman on reeds! It's an especially nice treat to hear Grossman in this setting – a nice change from usual, but one that he really illuminates with his soulful lines – and titles include "Hey Bicho Vamos Nessa", "Risa", "The Greeting", "On The Foot Peg", "A Child Is Born" and "Libra Rising". LP, Vinyl record album

Guitarist Larry Coryell – plus Romero Lubambo, Dori Caymmi, Marcio Montarroyos, Donald Harrison, Billy Cobham, and others! CD

Proof that Azymuth were one of the few groups who could keep things real at a time when most of their fusion contemporaries were sounding cloying and commercial! The album's got a well-rounded sound that really shows the group's roots in the 70s, and their wonderful evolution over the years – that keyboard-heavy sound that's always warm and soulful, and never too tinny or beat-heavy. Jose Roberto Bertrami's keys come across with a 70s warmth that most groups were lacking by this time – and the backing from Alex Maheiros on bass and Ivan Conti is always very subtle, and simple too – swirled up alongside the keyboards, and mixed in with a few occasional bits of guest instrumentation – including trumpet from Marcio Montarroyos on one track, and flugelhorn from Paulinho Olivera on a few more. Titles include versions of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", Jobim's "Song Of The Jet", and Ivan Lins' "The Island", plus the cuts "Universal Prisoner", "Candomble", and "Areis". LP, Vinyl record album

Great 80s grooves from this cool Brazilian duo – the guitar and vocals of Robson Jorge and a sweet range of keyboards from Lincoln Olivetti – tied together in a style that's got plenty of great electro soul touches! At some level, the album recalls some of the 80s grooves coming from the US soul scene at the time – but the music also has elements that reflect some of the Brazilian funk of groups like Unaio Black or Banda Black Rio, and maybe even some of the styles of Marcos Valle in the early 80s too! There's a depth to the instrumentation that reflects a stronger understanding of jazz than most groups of this nature – and the vocals often take more of a place on the sidelines in favor of the instrumentation. The jazz sound is underscored by work from Marcio Montarroyos on trumpet and Leo Gandelman on baritone sax – and titles include "Eva", "Jorgea Corisco", "No Bom Sentido", "Raton", "Squash", "Ginga", and "Alegrias". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer Brazilian soundtrack! The record is a mix of funky easy tracks – in a Blue Brazil kind of mode – with other titles played by trumpeter Marcio Montarroyos that have a jazzier edge to them. The whole thing's kind of a mad mix of old and new Brazilian styles of music, touched by just a bit of 70s sleaze to give it a cool edge. Titles include "As Moca" by Osmar Milito e Trama, "Mentira" by Marcos Valle, "Amar Sofrer E Sonhar" by Nuvens, "Posso Ver O Mundo Pela Janela" by Trama, "Manha De Sol" by Piry, and "Maria", "Mulher", "Carinhoso", and "No Ranco Fundo" by Marcio Montarroyos. LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing tribute not just to the rich imagination of the young Egberto Gismonti – but also to the vivid sound of Brazilian music in the 70s! The album leaps past any easy definitions – as bits of jazz, MPB, serious scoring, folkloric styles, and other elements come into play – often in the space of a single song – and Gismonti's own keyboards and guitar are mixed with really collaborative efforts from Joyce, Danilo Caymmi, Marcio Montarroyos, and other leading lights of the Brazilian underground at the time! The tunes are quite visionary – in a way that's as sublime as Gismonti's legendary 1973 album – and production is other-worldly, at a level that few Anglo albums could hope to match at the time. Titles include the classic "Cafe" – plus Baiao Do Acordar", "Danca Das Cabecas", "Carmo", "Polichinelo", "Trem Noturno", and "Ano Zero". LP, Vinyl record album

Music from Paul Horn, Azymuth, Marcio Montarroyos, Walton Ornato, Phil Manzanera & Sergio Dias, Paul Horn and Egberto Gismonti. CD