Nice later material by Cugie – recorded slightly before his 60s pop excursions, and with a sound that retains a lot of his original conception, but which touches it with some nice exotic hi-fi production. Titles include "Siboney", "Anna", "Jungle Drums", "Jungle Concerto", "Say Si Si", and "Poinciana". LP, Vinyl record album

Nicely grooving material – with tracks that are a bit shorter than the usual Verve "celebrity meets celebrity" set, but which are no less well-played. Dizzy is always fantastic in this sort of loosely-crafted setting – and Getz's playing here is nicely relaxed, with more open-ended blowing than you might hear in some of his own sets as a leader. The pair play with backing by the Oscar Peterson trio – on titles that include "Siboney", "Impromptu", "Girl Of My Dreams", and "It Don't Mean A Thing". CD

A gem of a record from the legendary Nino Rota – one of his best scores for director Federico Fellini – a bit later than some of their 60s classics, but equally great! The music is filled with Rota's trademark interweaving of dominant themes and lighter moments – the kind of tight chamber scoring that makes his compositions work so well – bouncey, but never silly, moody, but never too serious. The narrative takes Rota to more pan-historic territory, but his approach here is similar to Fellini films set in contemporary Rome – and dominant instrumentation includes bits of accordion, piano, horns, and gentle strings. Wonderful stuff all around – with loads of short little tracks that have some nice hooks – titles that include "La Fogaraccia", "La Gradisca E Il Principe", "Gary Cooper", "Lo Struscio", "Amarcord", and "Ti Ricordi Siboney". LP, Vinyl record album

Pre-US work from Juan Garcia Esquivel – 2 early albums recorded in Mexico in the mid 50s! First up is Las Tandas – a set that's got a hip mix of jazz, swing, and Latin orchestral touches – presented here with some spoken announcements at the beginning of each track, in a way that supposedly sounds "live" – although the recording of the instruments is more in studio-level quality. Titles are all quite unusual – and often offer an odd extrapolation of older modes from the decade before – slightly re-arranged in more modern 50s orchestral modes. Titles include "Politecnio Rock & Roll", "Goya Universidad Rock & Roll", "Una Y Otra Vez", "Collar De Perlas", "Potpourri Curiel", and "Tren Nocturno". To Love Again is one of the rarest of Esquivel's RCA albums – a set that was recorded in Mexico, but issued as one of his first albums in the US! The sound's a bit romantic, but it's still got plenty of elements of his classic RCA work – including his unique approach to arrangements, and his penchant for lots of nice little instrumental flourishes that burst out of the larger ensemble with a nice sense of flourish! Titles include "Jungle Drums", "Vereda Tropical", "Siboney", "Hornblowers Serenade", and "Nocturnal". CD

Better than it sounds – as this one, like the initial Jungle Drums album, is low on the drums, and much more in the mode of Gould's usual light classic work. In fact, we're kind of hard pressed to hear any percussion at all – as the main groove is orchestral performances of Latin standards, like "Brazil", "Siboney", "The Peanut Vendor", "Ay Ay Ay", and other tunes of that nature. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best entries in RCA's classic "our man in..." series – and a nice one by Perez that has him breaking the format of his other releases for the label. In this one, he hits a lot of more modern grooves than on his 50's work – and he also introduces the "bongoson", a mixture of twist and Cuban "son" that sounds pretty groovy. Titles include "Uno", "Pachito E Che", "Tico Tico No Fuba", "Guares", and "Canto Siboney". LP, Vinyl record album

Nicely grooving material – with tracks that are a bit shorter than the usual Verve "celebrity meets celebrity" set, but which are no less well-played. Dizzy is always fantastic in this sort of loosely-crafted setting – and Getz's playing here is nicely relaxed, with more open-ended blowing than you might hear in some of his own sets as a leader. The pair play with backing by the Oscar Peterson trio – on titles that include "Siboney", "Impromptu", "Girl Of My Dreams", and "It Don't Mean A Thing". CD

A walearic classic from the Japanese scene of the early 80s – a set that's definitely got some of the Latin elements promised in the title, but which also resonates strongly with some of the more electronic modes of the time! The tunes are instrumental, and often a bit jazzy – but also have keyboards and rhythms that might have been borrowed from city pop or some of the electro crossover acts of the time – rooted with acoustic percussion at the core, and lots of horn parts that keep up the Latin themes! The whole thing's got a nice sparkle – a bit fusion, but more than that too – and titles include "Jungle Drums", "Siboney", "El Cumbanchero", "Hindu", "Danza Lucumi", and "Pygmy Land". LP, Vinyl record album