1968 saw the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy; black athletes staged a silent demonstration at the Summer Olympics and the popular Sci-Fi...
Arguably the greatest Afro-Cuban percussionist that ever lived (bar Tata Güines, perhaps), Carlos “Patato” Valdés is, also one of the greatest showmen of the congas, who...
The history of music of Afro-Cuban origin, music that begat Latin-Jazz cannot be told in 500 words, not in a thousand and you can only make...
This seminal recording by one of the finest congueros Carlos “Patato” Valdés and Eugenio “Totico” Arango, another great Cuban musical figure, also features two other legends...
Of course this recording is shaped by the musicians whom Hilton Ruiz attracted for this project. Involved intensity is the watchwords of this album. This is...
There is no “one” single iconic recording by the great Bebo Valdés. The pianist was an epitomé of good taste, which is not the reason for...
Far from being the obligatory “essential Latin Jazz” album, Machito’s Kenya escapes this glib epithet by the skin of its teeth. Drumming out the “Afro-Cuban Jazz”...
This recording by Herbie Mann is an extremely rare and beautiful disc. Originally recorded in 1959, it has been available as an analogue recording on vinyl,...
The fabled Spanish tinge has hovered on the fringes of jazz a lot longer ago that it was known to have been introduced into that idiom....
Tito Puente, “El Rey del timbal” was almost singlehandedly responsible for bringing Cuban son, mambo and cha-cha-cha into the ballrooms and auditoriums, contributing to the seminal...