Afro Cuban Kaleidoscope

Performer: Various Artists/Snowboy
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Presented by U.K. Latin-jazz DJ/performer Snowboy (aka Mark Cotgrove), this 2008 Fania compilation presents many of the finest artists in the Afro-Cuban tradition, including Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, and Cal Tjader. Among the highlights of KALEIDOSCOPE are Puente's frenetic "110th St. and 5th Ave." and Palmieri and Tjader's light, lively "Bamboleate." The labels that were only later collected under the Fania label pumped out most of the best danceable Latin music of the '60s -- the Alegre and Tico imprints first and foremost, but Cotique as well. And although this baker's dozen of tracks were never impossible for non-collectors to find, as compiler Snowboy contends, they sure haven't been easy to find on CD or vinyl over the years. Tito Puente gets pole position, as he should, with a track that celebrated the war-era center of Latin music in America, "110th Street and 5th Avenue" (home of the Park Palace and the Park Plaza clubs). A raft of the names are familiar to salsa and charanga fans, but even the very obscure Cabrerita gets his chance too, with the frenetic "Por Las Nubes" (whose translated title can be easily guessed even by non-Spanish speakers). Two of the best tracks come from all-star collectives, the Alegre All-Stars and Tico-Alegre All-Stars, although including one of the Tico All-Stars' excellent jams from their Descargas at the Village Gate Live series of LPs for Tico would have been a good choice. Another highlight is the title track, from Eddie Palmieri's collaboration with vibist Cal Tjader, Bamboleate. Snowboy's choices are all solid; though he has some sympathies with the dancers crowd made obscurely famous by Gilles Peterson's DJ sets, he has more of a musician's perspective than a DJ's, and these tracks are primarily showcases for the best percussionists ever recorded. Case in point: the closer, a Tico-Alegre All Stars joint named "La Odisea de Tito" (with apologies to 2001: A Space Odyssey), recorded live at Carnegie Hall and featuring an amazing feature for el Rey himself, Tito Puente. ~ John Bush

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