Jazzpana II assembles an equally stellar ensemble, with a heavier emphasis on the flamenco contingent. This is led by performer/composers Gerardo Nunez (flamenco guitar) and Chano Dominguez (Grotrian Steinweg piano), and filled out with Esperanza Fernandez (vocals on one track), Jorge Pardo (soprano sax), Carles Benavent (electric bass), Renauld Garcia-Fons (five-string acoustic upright bass), Tino Di Geraldo (drums) and Cepillo (cajon). The Jazz counterpart is headlined by Michael Brecker (tenor sax) and Fareed Haque (electric guitar) and rounded out with Perico Sambeat (alto sax).

Irakere (faux-Yoruba for 'forest') is a Cuban band founded by pianist Chucho Valdés (son of Bebo Valdés) in 1973. They won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Recording in 1980 with their album Irakere. Irakere was a seminal musical laboratory, where historic innovations in both Afro-Cuban jazz and Cuban popular dance music were created. The group used a wide array of percussion instruments like batá, abakuá and arará drums, chequerés, erikundis, maracas, claves, cencerros, bongó, tumbadoras (congas), and güiro.

The Peruvian progressive rock band Frágil was founded in 1976 and gained quite huge success back then. Bands such as Genesis and Yes inspired them, and they took their name from the Yes album "Fragile" (1972). Fragil have released four albums and this is a re-edition of their first album "Avenida Larco" from 1981. Their sound is very beautiful, often dreamy and dominated by typical 80's sounding polyphonic synthesisers and lyrics in Spanish.

ALMA ESPAÑOLA presents GRAMMY Award-winning singer Isabel Leonard and GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin in an all-Spanish recording for voice and guitar, including twelve arrangements by Ms. Isbin in their premiere recordings. Duos by Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla, Xavier Montsalvatge, Agustín Lara and Joaquín Rodrigo, with guitar solos by Granados and Tárrega, are heard in performances that evoke the rich and magnificent tradition of Spain. The Philadelphia Inquirer described Leonard & Isbin's performance as “Feasts of beautifully sculpted phrases… glimpses of heaven", and The New York Times referred to the “Soulful depth" of their interpretations. The collaboration of Isabel Leonard and Sharon Isbin brings together one of today's brightest vocal stars, heard on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Paris Opera, with a guitar virtuoso acclaimed as “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time."

In 1997, it came as a quite a surprise when Fantasy reissued Opa's albums Golden Wings (1976) and Magic Time (1977) on a single 74-minute CD – surprising because the fusion trio had only a very small following; its albums were far from big sellers, and the original LP versions were in print for only a few years. If one notices some similarity between the melodic blend of jazz, rock, funk, pop, and Brazilian music heard on this disc and Airto Moreira's CTI dates of the 1970s, it's no coincidence – Moreira produced both Golden Wings and Magic Time and plays percussion on both of them. Opa members Hugh Fattoruso (keyboards, vocals), George Fattoruso (drums, vocals, percussion), and Ringo Thielmann (bass, vocals) often worked with the percussionist and his wife, Flora Purim, in the 1970s, and his influence clearly rubbed off. It's regrettable that Opa were never as commercially successful as either Moreira or Purim, although this CD points to the fact that it wasn't due to a lack of rewarding material.

Lively and soulful songs from Costa Rica, with marimba, flute, saxophone, guitar, keyboard… all underpinned by those familiar rhythms of Latin America.

This double CD contains 29 live Compay Segundo performances. The first CD contains a conversation with Compay about his childhood and what he feels about his music. This is the original Spanish. The CD split into "club" concerts and "theatre" concerts.

Vytas Brenner was a German born Venezuelan pianist, keyboardist and composer. His career started in the late 1960s and released his first album in 1973. His music took Latin American rhythms, as well as from unique Venezuelan tradition and combined them with Progressive Rock, to create delightful Symphonic prog, with elements of fusion, space rock and acoustic folk.

This CD is musicianship at its best. There is something for everyone here from the dark evocative sounds of Misa Negra, the hard swing of the Ellington tribute, and the infectious beat of the son montunos. And all this with some of the most exciting solo performances you could ever hope to hear.

S'il est un exemple en France d'éditeur indépendant dynamique, c'est bien celui du label lorrain K.617. Depuis le début des années 90, celui-ci, sous la houlette d'Alain Pacquier, explore, défriche des terres musicales jusque-là inconnues de nos contemporains. Il faut dire que le répertoire exhumé est celui d'Amérique latine ; autrement dit, K.617 a fait ici œuvre de pionnier en révélant aux discophiles des merveilles sonores insoupçonnées. Comme en témoignent la réédition de La Purpura de la Rosa et des musiques extraites de la Mission San Francisco Xavier : des pièces issues du riche patrimoine baroque d'Amérique latine, où tout virevolte, où les rythmes s'entrechoquent, où les voix émeuvent par leur prégnance et la richesse de la palette expressive. Des (re)découvertes qui ne peuvent laisser insensible.