Here we have a summit meeting late in the careers of the pioneering titans of Afro-Cuban jazz: Dizzy Gillespie fronting the Machito orchestra on trumpet, with Mario Bauza as music director, alto saxophonist/clarinetist, and organizing force, and Chico O'Farrill contributing the compositions and arrangements. This could have been just a nostalgic retro gathering 25 years after the fact, but instead, these guys put forth an ambitious effort to push the boundaries of the idiom. The centerpiece is a 15-minute trumpet concerto for Gillespie called "Oro, Incienso y Mirra," where O'Farrill melts dissonant clusters, electric piano comping, and synthesizer decorations together with hot Afro-Cuban rhythms into a coherent, multi-sectioned tour de force…

Mambo with Tjader was one of vibraphonist and composer Cal Tjader's first major recordings. Fascinated with the rhythms and atmospheres of Latin music, Tjader was one of the first musicians to successfully fuse South American musical styles with straight-ahead jazz. In retrospect, the lush, laid-back, vibes-heavy groove of Tjader's inventions anticipates the "lounge" music of the '50s and '60s - offering the sort of soft, swinging soundtrack appropriate for the consumption of dry martinis on leatherette love seats.
But Mambo with Tjader is valuable for more than mere kitsch factor. Over the course of the album's 12 tracks, a rich tapestry of tropical percussion works through three rhythmic models - the mambo, the cha-cha, and the bolero…

Chucho Valdés is at the top of his game here, on Tribute to Irakere (Live in Marciac). There is a visceral excitement in the performance, where the music is played in the idiomatic vein of Irakere. This means the creation of an attractive, edifying atmosphere in Marciac with the celebrated collision of African polyrhythms together with a polyphony born of Cuban folk forms that Chucho Valdés is so well known for adapting to his electrifying style.

Ray Barretto's Carnaval combines two 1962 sessions, Pachanga with Barretto (his Milestone label debut as a leader) and Latino!. Both sets feature Barretto's first band, Charanga Moderna, with trumpeter El Negro Vivar and tenor saxophonist Jose Chombo Silva added to the front line for the latter LP. The first album is very much Latin jazz of its time, with all ten tracks designed for dancing the briefly popular pachanga, a dance that was simply too manic and difficult to catch on widely. The pachanga-friendly tempos on these ten brief cuts (most under three minutes) make the album sound rushed and nervous to ears unfamiliar with the dance fad. The far-better Latino!, recorded in nearly the same session, is a good old-fashioned jam session, with more leisurely tempos and extended playing times that give all the soloists – especially Vivar, Silva, and flutist Jose Canoura – plenty of room to stretch out. These two albums are very different, but hearing both of them in proximity reveals much about the state of the New York City Latin jazz scene in the early '60s.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This 2000 big band date re-imagines many of Salvador’s most famous compositions through the pen of arranger Juan Manuel Ceruto and the performances of several Cuban jazz icons. Ceruto brings Salvador’s compositions into a contemporary setting, maintaining their initial integrity while adding slick arrangements and modern performance concepts. In some ways the arrangements lean more towards the refined aesthetics of modern Cuban timba than the rougher exploratory nature of 1970s Cuban jazz, but if offers an opportunity to see the songs through different eyes. Numerous major names in the current Cuban jazz scene jumped at the opportunity to recognize Salvador’s influence on the music; saxophonist German Velazco, trombonist Juan Pablo Torres, vocalist Issac Delgado, bassist Roberto Riberon, drummer Raul Pineda, and conguero Tata Guines all participate in this heavy session.

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 '80s Sueño, produced by poly-buff Kip Hanrahan, went nowhere much, perhaps because Capitol didn't know what to do with it. But it's another example of what made Palmieri one of the great salsa bandleaders.