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Eddie Palmieri’s 1971 Masterpiece “Vámonos Pa’l Monte” Returns to Vinyl
Los Angeles, CA (January 28, 2026)—Craft Latino honors the legendary late bandleader and pianist Eddie Palmieri with a reissue of his 1971 masterpiece, Vámonos pa’l monte. A landmark title in both the Latin jazz and salsa canons, the album features such timeless tracks as “Revolt/La libertad logico,” “Comparsa de los locos” and “Vámonos pa’l monte,” and boasts an all-star line-up, including Charlie Palmieri, Nicky Marrero, Ronnie Cuber and Alfredo “Chocolate” Armenteros.
Long-out-of-print, Vámonos pa’l monte returns to its original format on March 20th, with pre-orders live today and featuring all-analog (AAA) mastering from the original tapes. The album is pressed on 180-gram vinyl and housed in a replica of its original Tico Records jacket. Palmieri fans can also find a limited-edition “Barro & Humo” (Clay & Smoke) color pressing (only 300 copies), as a stand-alone or bundled with a collectible Tico Records T-shirt, exclusively via Fania.com. Fans can also enjoy the remastered album in both standard and HD digital audio available now on digital music platforms.
Multiple GRAMMY® Award–winning bandleader, composer, arranger and pianist Eddie Palmieri (1936–2025) was a larger-than-life musical figure. Known for his percussive, highly physical piano technique and his innovative blend of Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz, Palmieri was a pivotal force in shaping the sound of Latin music.
Born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents, Palmieri grew up in a musical family, including his older brother, the esteemed pianist and bandleader Charlie Palmieri. After cutting his chops as a sideman in Tito Rodríguez’s popular orchestra, Palmieri assembled a band of his own, Conjunto La Perfecta. Over the next nine years, La Perfecta established the jazz-forward “Palmieri Sound” and released a series of hit records. By the end of the decade, however, the dynamic bandleader was eager to expand the scope of his work and began assembling smaller, one-off groups for individual albums, including Justicia (1969), Superimposition (1970) and—as the creative culmination of this era—Vámonos pa’l monte.
A pivotal title in progressive salsa—a subgenre Palmieri was integral to shaping— Vámonos pa’l monte remains a crown jewel in the artist’s catalog. For several years, the bandleader had been experimenting with instrumentation, incorporating sonic elements that were typically unconventional in salsa. Vámonos pa’l monte is no exception, as Palmieri wove in a baritone saxophone (played by Ronnie Cuber), a traditional jazz drum kit (Nicky Marrero), an organ (Charlie Palmieri) and an electric piano, played by the bandleader himself. A host of more typical salsa instrumentation was also employed, performed by such talented musicians as Alfredo Armenteros (trumpet), Jose Rodriguez (trombone) and Eladio Perez (conga), while former La Perfecta singer Ismael Quintana served as vocalist.
The album finds Palmieri weaving together a diverse array of musical styles, from Latin jazz and funky fusion to salsa, descarga, boogaloo, charanga and guaguancó. His unique arrangements, meanwhile, use instrumentation to underscore the socio-political messages of his songs—particularly in the avant-garde opener “Revolt/Libertad lógico,” an anthem for freedom. In liner notes for an earlier edition of the album, Dr. Gregory “Goyo” Pappas notes that “Palmieri’s use of the snare drum was purposeful, emulating a machine gun. What’s more, the driving electric character and aggressive tone of the music is proof of a nonconformist stance.” Throughout the album, it is also notable that layers of horns are incorporated into the rhythm section, creating a distinctive sound that was uncommon in salsa at the time.
Other highlights include the joyful “Comparsa de los locos,” in which Palmieri draws inspiration from Cuban carnaval groups. The hypnotic, seven-minute “Vámonos pa’l monte”—featuring an epic keyboard conversation between the Palmieri brothers—invites Latinos from the city to attend a party in the rural mountains. Quintana, who not only sings on the track but co-wrote it, once explained, “The lyrics were about trying to cope with the injustices in the world. It meant, let’s get out of this crazy mess and so much negativity that we live in, and let’s go to the mountains.”
Today, Vamonos pa’l monte remains one of the most highly regarded albums in Latin music—celebrated over the years for its stylistic fusion, outstanding musicianship and high-level production. Praising the album in a recent roundup of Palmieri’s essential recordings, theNew York Times called Vámonos pa’l monte a “visceral masterpiece” and a “strikingly engineered recording that captures the echoes of live performance…[it] is electric and eccentric at once.” Jazz Times hailed its “worldly swagger and an urgency unleavened by the album’s psychedelic escapism,” while AllMusic added, “Vamonos Pa’l Monte benefits from one of the best recording jobs of any early-’70s salsa record, each section—and practically each musician—vigorously separated with clear stereo.”
Palmieri, who passed away in August 2025, left behind a formidable legacy, including more than 40 albums as a leader. Praised by the New York Times as “one of the great musical masterminds of the 20th century—not to mention one of its fieriest performers,” the bandleader was long celebrated for his contributions to Latin music. Among other honors, he was an eight-time Grammy winner—earning the first-ever award for Best Latin Recording in 1975 (for The Sun of Latin Music)—and received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2013 Latin Grammys. That same year, he was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master—the highest distinction in the United States for jazz artists.
Click here to pre-order Vamonos pa’l monte.
Click here to find the exclusive bundle including the “Barro & Humo” (Clay & Smoke) limited-edition color vinyl with a collectible Tico Records T-shirt.
Vámonos Pa’l Monte tracklist:
Side A
1. Revolt/La Libertad Lógico
2. Caminando
3. Vámonos Pa’l Monte
Side B
1. Viejo Socarron
2. Yo No Sé
3. Comparsa De Los Locos
About Fania
Highly influential, both musically and culturally, Fania Records spread the sound of salsa music from the clubs of New York City to the rest of the world and became a revered global brand in the process. Fania’s master recording catalog is the definitive home for genres such as Latin big band, Afro-Cuban jazz, boogaloo, salsa and Latin Soul, and includes artistic giants such as Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe and Rubén Blades. With the creation of the international supergroup known as the Fania All-Stars, the label’s signature musical style became known as the “Fania Sound.” Fania’s rich master catalog also includes the Pete Rodriguez’s boogaloo classic “I Like It Like That” which was sampled by Cardi B in her #1 hit “I Like It.” Additionally, three Fania Recordings, Celia & Johnny by Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco, Azúcar Pa’ Ti by Eddie Palmieri and Live at Yankee Stadium by the Fania All-Stars, appear in the National Recording Registry, a list of sound recordings that “are culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.”
About Craft Latino
Craft Latino is home to one of the largest and most prestigious collections of Latin music master recordings and compositions in the world. Its rich and storied repertoire includes legendary artists such as Antonio Aguilar, Joan Sebastian, Pepe Aguilar, Celia Cruz, Héctor Lavoe, Willie Colón, Ray Barretto, La Lupe, Ruben Blades and the Fania All Stars, to name just a few. Renowned imprints with catalogs issued under the Craft banner include Musart, Fania, TH, Panart, West Side Latino and Kubaney, among many others. Craft creates thoughtfully curated packages, with a meticulous devotion to quality and a commitment to preservation, ensuring that these recordings endure for new generations to discover.
Craft Latino is the Latin repertoire arm of Craft Recordings, the catalog label team for Concord. For more info, visit CraftRecordings.com.
Brazilian mandolin virtuoso Hamilton de Holanda opens a new creative chapter with Nova, a wide-ranging album that brings the traditions of Brazilian instrumental music into conversation with contemporary jazz and sounds from Africa, India, the Caribbean and the Middle East.
Released by Sony Music Brasil on May 20, 2026, the 14-track, 56-minute recording was produced by de Holanda and Marcos Portinari. Recorded in different parts of the world, Nova draws inspiration from the people, places and musical encounters that have marked de Holanda’s extensive travels.
At the heart of the album is the Hamilton de Holanda Trio: de Holanda on 10-string mandolin, Salomão Soares on keyboards and synthesizers, and Thiago “Big” Rabello on drums. Their six-year musical partnership gives the project its central identity, balancing rhythmic precision, melodic freedom and intuitive ensemble interaction.
The trio is joined by an impressive international cast that includes Indian sitarist Anoushka Shankar, French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, Cuban percussionist and vocalist Pedrito Martínez, Angolan singer-songwriter Paulo Flores and Brazilian percussion legend Paulinho da Costa. Other guests include Pedro Martins, Michael Pipoquinha, Pretinho da Serrinha, Mestra Zélia do Prato and Larissa Umaytá.
Opening with “Nova Alvorada,” the album imagines a new dawn rooted in African and Afro-Brazilian traditions. Pedrito Martínez contributes vocals and percussion, Michael Pipoquinha adds electric bass, and singers Tatiana Parra, Vanessa Moreno and Dani Gurgel form the supporting chorus.
Elsewhere, “Som de Baile” channels the energy of Brazilian dance bands, drawing upon the spirit of Banda Black Rio, Jorge Ben Jor and Gilberto Gil. “Frio Lá Fora,” composed during a bitterly cold stay in New York, features Maalouf and Pretinho da Serrinha, while “Pras Crianças” combines an ijexá-based foundation with the resonant sound of Shankar’s sitar. “Luanda (Unidos)” creates a bridge to Angolan semba through the voice and text of Paulo Flores.
Among the album’s most reflective compositions is “Mono no Aware,” which has received an official visualizer. Written by de Holanda and Soares, its title comes from a Japanese expression describing an awareness of life’s impermanence—and the realization that beauty becomes more meaningful because it is temporary.
Recorded at producer and engineer Mario Caldato Jr.’s Los Angeles studio, the piece features Paulinho da Costa on percussion and Pedro Martins on guitar alongside the trio. The gathering connects three generations of Brazilian musicians in a performance that is sophisticated, spacious and emotionally restrained.
The visualizer complements the composition’s contemplative character through imagery evoking delicacy, transition and constant transformation. Rather than presenting a literal storyline, it creates an intimate visual environment in which the music’s mixture of quiet joy and underlying sadness can unfold. The official visualizer is available through Hamilton de Holanda’s YouTube channel.
Now entering his sixth decade, de Holanda remains one of Brazilian instrumental music’s most innovative figures. By expanding the traditional eight-string bandolim into a 10-string instrument, he developed a broader harmonic and melodic vocabulary that has allowed him to move naturally among choro, samba, jazz and global musical traditions.
With Nova, that spirit of invention is guided by gratitude, generosity and an enduring belief in music’s ability to connect people. Tradition and experimentation are not treated as opposites; they become complementary parts of a living musical language.
As de Holanda explains, creating original music with such an extraordinary community of artists is his way of affirming that, regardless of the world’s uncertainties, “the music will continue.”
Nova — Complete Track Listing
1. Nova Alvorada — Hamilton de Holanda
2. Presente pra Sempre — Hamilton de Holanda
3. Nasci — Hamilton de Holanda
4. Som de Baile — Hamilton de Holanda
5. Mono no Aware — Hamilton de Holanda and Salomão Soares
6. Frio Lá Fora — Hamilton de Holanda and Gabriel de Holanda
7. Carrossel — Hamilton de Holanda and Gabriel de Holanda
8. Pras Crianças — Hamilton de Holanda
9. Luanda (Unidos) — Hamilton de Holanda
10. Por Essa Eu Não Esperava — Hamilton de Holanda and Gabriel de Holanda
11. Forrozin de Mestra Zélia — Hamilton de Holanda
12. Choro Fado — Hamilton de Holanda
13. Sol da Noite — Hamilton de Holanda
14. Até Amanhã — Hamilton de Holanda and Salomão Soares
Album Credits
Hamilton de Holanda Trio
Hamilton de Holanda: 10-string mandolin
Salomão Soares: keyboards, synthesizers and Moog
Thiago “Big” Rabello: drums and percussion
Guest Artists and Additional Musicians
“Nova Alvorada”
Pedrito Martínez — percussion and vocals
Michael Pipoquinha — bass
Tatiana Parra — backing vocals
Vanessa Moreno — backing vocals
Dani Gurgel — backing vocals
“Nasci”
Eduardo Neves — tenor saxophone
Aquiles Moraes — trumpet
Rafael Rocha — trombone and horn arrangement
“Som de Baile”
Eduardo Neves — tenor saxophone
Aquiles Moraes — trumpet
Rafael Rocha — trombone and horn arrangement
Larissa Umaytá — percussion
“Mono no Aware”
Paulinho da Costa — percussion
Pedro Martins — guitar
“Frio Lá Fora”
Ibrahim Maalouf — trumpet
Pretinho da Serrinha — percussion
“Pras Crianças”
Anoushka Shankar — sitar
Leander Motta — moringa percussion
“Luanda (Unidos)”
Paulo Flores — voice and spoken text
“Forrozin de Mestra Zélia”
Mestra Zélia do Prato — voice
Production
Producers: Hamilton de Holanda and Marcos Portinari
Executive producer and editing engineer: Marcos Portinari
Assistant producer: Fellipe Cabral
Mixing: Thiago Rabello and Da Pá Virada
Mastering: André Dias
Assistant engineer: Vitor Nery
Photography: Nando Chagas
Label: Sony Music Brasil
Release date: May 20, 2026
Format: Digital album
Duration: Approximately 56 minutes
Craft Latino will reissue Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe’s landmark 1969 album, Cosa Nuestra, on September 25, bringing one of salsa’s most influential recordings back to vinyl and CD. The new edition pays tribute to the late Willie Colón while celebrating an album that helped define the sound, image, and cultural force of New York salsa.
The vinyl edition has been mastered entirely in the analog domain and pressed on 180-gram vinyl. A limited Metallic Blue pressing, restricted to 300 copies, will also be available through Fania, either separately or bundled with a retro-logo T-shirt. A newly remastered version of the album is already available on digital platforms in standard and high-resolution audio.
Colón and Lavoe began working together in the mid-1960s after meeting at Fania Records. Colón was only 16, while Lavoe was 21. Their 1967 debut, El Malo, introduced an unusually compelling partnership: Colón’s raw, trombone-driven arrangements combined with Lavoe’s distinctive phrasing, streetwise personality, and exceptional command of the sonero tradition.
Following The Hustler and Guisando, the duo moved beyond the boogaloo sound that dominated much of the era and began developing the tougher, more sophisticated musical language that would become closely associated with salsa. Their fourth album, Cosa Nuestra—“Our Thing”—marked the moment when all the elements came together.
The album’s now-iconic cover reinforced the gangster imagery established on their earlier recordings, portraying Colón as a mobster preparing to dispose of a body near the Hudson River. The theatrical concept was more than a marketing device. It reflected the rebellious identity, urban atmosphere, and youthful attitude that made Colón and Lavoe central figures in the emerging Nuyorican music scene.
Produced by Jerry Masucci and overseen by Fania co-founder Johnny Pacheco, Cosa Nuestra introduced a revitalized ensemble featuring trombonist Eric Matos, timbalero Little Louie Romero, conguero Milton Cardona, bongó player José Mangual Jr., bassist Santi González, and pianist Professor Joe Torres.
Its songs offered vivid portraits of barrio life, betrayal, romantic disappointment, and everyday conflict. “Te conozco” focuses on a familiar neighbourhood freeloader, while “Tú no puedes conmigo” addresses the sting of a friend’s disloyalty. “Juana Peña” tells the story of a woman known for deceiving her lovers who eventually experiences heartbreak herself.
The bolero-son “Ausencia” gives Lavoe one of the album’s most emotionally resonant performances, expressing the anguish of a man unable to escape the memory of a failed relationship. In contrast, “Sonero mayor” celebrates improvisation and the art of soneo, one of Lavoe’s defining gifts.
The album’s greatest commercial success came with “Ché ché colé,” inspired by an African children’s game. Blending African and Caribbean rhythmic traditions, the infectious recording reached an international audience, helped propel Colón and Lavoe to stardom, and contributed to Cosa Nuestra becoming their first gold-selling album in the United States.
More than five decades later, Cosa Nuestra remains a cornerstone of salsa. Its combination of musical sophistication, Afro-Caribbean roots, urban storytelling, and unmistakable New York attitude established a model that shaped the genre throughout the 1970s. This reissue offers longtime admirers and new listeners an opportunity to rediscover the album in a format worthy of its enduring historical importance. Pre-Order Now!
Craft Latino is celebrating the legacy of Puerto Rican singer and composer Chamaco Ramírez with the first vinyl reissue of Alive and Kicking, his acclaimed 1979 solo debut. Originally released by Inca Records and unavailable on vinyl for more than 45 years, the album will return on September 18, 2026, in conjunction with the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Although Alive and Kicking was Ramírez’s only album as a solo artist, the nine-song recording remains a powerful demonstration of his talents as a sonero, songwriter and bandleader. The album includes enduring favourites such as “San Agustín,” “Adivínalo” and “Así son Bongó,” supported by an exceptional ensemble of musicians from the New York salsa scene.
The new 180-gram pressing was produced using an all-analog process. Dave Polster and Clint Holley of Well Made Music cut the lacquers directly from the original master tapes, preserving the energy and clarity of Ramírez’s voice and the album’s richly arranged instrumentation. A limited-edition Rumba Amarilla pressing, restricted to 300 copies, will also be available through Fania, either separately or as part of a bundle with a collectible Inca Records T-shirt. The newly remastered album is already available digitally in standard and high-resolution audio.
Born in Puerto Rico in 1941, Ramírez emerged as one of salsa’s most admired improvisational singers. He was only 16 when he joined Tommy Olivencia y Su Orquesta as co-lead vocalist alongside Paquito Guzmán. During his 13 years with the orchestra, Ramírez appeared on eight albums and developed a reputation for his command of the sonero tradition and his ability to create spontaneous verses.
Ramírez also performed with the Alegre All Stars and Kako y Su Orquesta before leaving Olivencia’s band in 1976 and relocating to New York. Three years later, he recorded Alive and Kicking for Inca Records, a Fania subsidiary. The album was produced by Cuban pianist and arranger Javier Vázquez, widely recognized for his association with La Sonora Matancera.
The program opens with “San Agustín,” a memorable son montuno composed by Catalino “Tite” Curet Alonso. The song pays tribute to the working-class San Agustín community in San Juan’s Puerta de Tierra district. Ramírez then turns toward New York’s urban rumba tradition with an updated version of Cuban percussionist Justi Barreto’s “Rumba moderna.”
Among the album’s most popular selections is Ramírez’s own “Adivínalo,” an upbeat composition whose spirited delivery contrasts with its controversial references to drug use. “Así son Bongó,” written by Cuban composer Joseíto Fernández, is another highlight. Its story of an incarcerated man mourning a forgotten romance is transformed by Ramírez and the orchestra into an energetic guaguancó designed for dancers.
The album’s formidable personnel includes trumpeter Alfredo “Chocolate” Armenteros, bassist Elpidio Vázquez Jr., percussionist and vocalist Jorge Maldonado, saxophonists Manolín González and Mario Rivera, and percussionists Alberto Valdés, Edgar López and Mike Collazo. Adalberto Santiago and Tito Allen strengthen the coro, while producer Javier Vázquez also contributes on piano.
The memorable cover, designed by Ron Levine, depicts Ramírez emerging from a coffin into a beam of sunlight—a visual interpretation of the title that later acquired tragic significance. Ramírez was killed by gun violence in 1983 at the age of 41.
More than four decades later, Alive and Kicking remains a vital salsa recording and a lasting testament to Chamaco Ramírez’s commanding voice, improvisational brilliance and enduring artistic legacy. Pre-Order Now.
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