Inspired by a general love of the tango, and more specifically the tango of Astor Piazzolla, on the part of Yo-Yo Ma, the Soul of the Tango album is a masterful work of the nuevo tango, played by Ma's cello and many of Piazzolla's former associates. Piazzolla's old guitarists Sergio and Odair Assad even showed up to work on a pair of tracks arranged by Sergio: the Tango Suite (consisting of Andante and Allegro). The sheer beauty of one of Piazzolla's tangos is generally enough to warrant the purchase of an album involving them. An album such as this one, where all of the songs (save one: Tango Remembrances, where Ma plays along with outtakes from Piazzolla's recording of The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night album) are compositions by Piazzolla is even better. Add to this the masterful playing of Ma, and the surprising facility in which the cello fits into the tango, and you've got what could become a classic album, if only it weren't on the classical label from Sony.

After Le Chat Bleu, this Mink DeVille record foretold the depth and dimension of Willy DeVille's talent and the lengths he would go to as a vocalist and songwriter to get the right mix of emotion, drama, and rock & roll attitude. Featuring the core band from Coup de Grace – Louis Cortelezzi on sax; Kenny Margolis on keyboards, including accordion; DeVille and Rick Borgia on guitars; and Tommy Price on drums – the seam in the album comes on the second track, "River of Tears," with its stunning soprano saxophone lines, marimbas, accordions, and howling, raw, Gato Barbieri-like tenor lines in the choruses. When DeVille sings, "Every night lonely, empty dreams/Here comes that tide washing over me/Not again/Oh no/Not again/I don't want to cry/But there's tears in my eyes/I don't want to cry/That river of tears," the horns and accordion swirl around him until the final 16 measures, when the guitars and marimbas envelop all his loss in their warmth. His voice is the grain of every rock & roll lothario's Waterloo. DeVille follows this with a scorching Cuban son called "Demisado Corazon," featuring full salsa horn and percussion sections.

Excellent BOX SET containing 4 CDs with the success story of Joao Donato with three unpublished albums - "Gozando a Existencia" (1978), "Naquela Base" (1988) and "Janela da Urca" (1989), and a CD "Raridades" - (1970). Everything unpublished, including encounters with Nara Leao, Djavan and Alaíde Costa, among others.

One of the true legends of Cuban music, Compay Segundo has been part of the musical history of his country for over 70 years. His music sums up everthing that Cuba evokes - music, revolution, rum, women, cigars and sunshine.

To lovers of Brazilian jazz, the pairing of these two legends of the genre amounts to something of a musical orgasm. The only serious misfire isn't really that bad, just a bit incongruous. Why would two consummate Brazilian ambassadors choose to do their one English lyric song – George Harrison's "Something" – as a reggae tune? The groove is silly, but actually some of the guitar work is fun. Just as when Ivan Lins sings in his native Portuguese rather than stilted English, this tandem is most at home conveying emotions that go beyond simple semantics, usually with Gil writing the music and Nascimento the lyrics. "Sebastian" is a moody bass-and-drum driven power ballad which functions as a showcase to their raspy vocals. The romantic, accordion-enhanced "Duas Sanfonas" would be more effective without the guest vocals by Sandy and Junior.

An album and video series combining Classical and Afro-Caribbean music in new piano-driven "re-compositions" for various ensembles.

Willie Bobo pulled an impressive lineup for his debut as a leader, due in part to a profile gained from his work with Cal Tjader and Herbie Mann. Leading the brass section in this midsized group is trumpeter Clark Terry, who lends the necessary grit and fire, while Joe Farrell's burring tenor gives the record dynamic range. Though Bobo's percussion kit is displayed on the front, it's occasionally difficult to appreciate his playing on the record; he sounds bored and in the background during a trio of Brazilian crossover numbers (this was the year of Jazz Samba, after all), leaving organist Frank Anderson to flare his way playfully through his own "Bossa Nova in Blue." Bobo does finally allow himself some solo space at the end of "Capers," after several minutes of brilliant interplay between brass and reeds. The highlight comes with the group's interpretation of Freddie Hubbard's "Crisis," a slow-burning hard bop number with Bobo's timbales shuffle framing more excellent sectioning, with Farrell's tenor and an unnamed trombone positioned in counterpoint to Terry's trumpet.

BEBO BEST aka The Alchemist Bebo Baldan, producer, musician, film composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist (bass, percussion, drums, sitar, guitar & keyboards) has worked on over 300 albums, and many soundtracks for films and TV, and has international recognition for the wise and original use of electronics and ethnic music that distinguished his works. His collaborations with such personalities as Gilberto Gil, Moni Ovadia Jon Hassel, Steven Brown, Steve Reich, Michael Nyman, Wim Mertens, Nitin Sawhney, Trilok Gurtu, Sinead O' Connor, David Torn, Ruichy Sakamoto, Frank Zappa, the American violinist Stephen James (Ravi Shankar, Bill Laswell), and guitarist David Torn (David Sylvian, Jan Garbarek, Don Cherry) has allowed him to explore ethnic and non-European types of music, an original Mediterranean formula influenced by jazz, traditional and warm electronic music.

Micca Mont, compositora, productora y cantante mexicana, inició el presente proyecto con su álbum debut“Looking up”, lanzado en Diciembre del 2014, mezcla de rock alternativo con electrónica, acompañado de una voz potente y melodiosa y con el cual logró estar entre los Artistas destacados y el Top de ventas de Itunes México en la categoría “Latin Alternative”.
Su gira “Looking Up”, en 2015, la llevó a realizar

By virtue of his warm, flamboyant stage manner, longevity, constant touring, and appearances in the mass media, Tito Puente is probably the most beloved symbol of Latin jazz. But more than that, Puente managed to keep his music remarkably fresh over the decades; as a timbales virtuoso, he combined mastery over every rhythmic nuance with old-fashioned showmanship — watching his eyes bug out when taking a dynamic solo was one of the great treats for Latin jazz fans. A trained musician, he was also a fine, lyrical vibraphonist, a gifted arranger, and played piano, congas, bongos, and saxophone.

Hits back to the '50s from Colombia's Disco Fuentes label, with history sweeping consistency aside–any gringo can tell Conjunto Tipico Vallenato's accordion side-closers are country and Rodolfo's coffee commercial isn't. But even if the accordion stuff belongs on a vallenata comp, it passes muster on a collection where at least half the songs bristle with the exigente hooks that sell classic pop the world over. And the unmistakable beat runs down a consummate South American groove, halfway between Euro clomp and Afro hipshake.

Si el jazz es el arte de la sorpresa, el contrabajista Javier Colina ha cumplido a fondo con la vieja definición de Whitney Balliet en éste, que sepamos, su primer disco como líder. Agente principal del jazz flamenco con el trío de Chano Domínguez, sideman de estrellas internacionales del jazz, colaborador permanente de los flamencos, Colina podía haber salido por cualquiera de estos palos. Pero el contrabajista también ha tocado con Compay Segundo y la Fort Apache Band, y lo sigue haciendo con Bebo Valdés. Y Colina se fue con el saxofonista valenciano Perico Sambeat a grabar a los legendarios estudios EGREM de La Habana, con un amplio arco de músicos cubanos de varias generaciones. Y juntos abordan diversos palos.

Jazz Batá 2, composer, pianist and bandleader Chucho Valdés’ first album for Mack Avenue Records, marks a new peak of creativity for the artist, even as it revisits the small-group concept of his 1972 Cuban album Jazz Batá. That album upon release was originally considered experimental at the time, but the trio project – featuring no drum set and two virtuosi who would subsequently be charter members of Irakere: Carlos del Puerto (bass) and Oscar Valdés (batâ: the sacred, hourglass shaped drums of the Yoruba religion in Cuba) – would now be considered contemporary.

Throughout the last 10 years danish guitarplayer Jacob Gurevitsch has been devolping his own musical signature with the spanish guitar.
His door into music is a deep passion, a flair for romantic interpretation and a very well developed melodic understanding. His influences are many and with great diversity – a drop of Argentina, old italian movies and early morning forestwalk in Spain.

Ever since BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB everyone knows what Cuban music stands for, what it expresses and what kind of emotions it transports. "Musica Original De Cuba" presents a wonderful and harmonious cross section through the passions of a wonderful island with its fascinating people and emotions. Just listen and feel good!