If you're looking for a lively collection of hip-shaking dance-floor fillers and a smattering of quirky rarities then this album is for you.
Intelligently compiled,"New York Latin Hustle," provides an overview of the sounds and range of different styles that were coming out of,"el barrio," in the 60's and 70's.
You'll bop around to,"No nos pararan," a relentless, killer version of "Ain't no stopping us now," and The Harvey Averne Dozen's, pulsating groove,"Never learned to dance." Other classics are Tito Puente's,"Para los Rumberos," and the relentless, addictive, "Dancin and Prancin," from Candido - the kind of record you have on loop.
I partuclarly like,"Suddenly Whiplash," from The Akexander Review an interesting amalgam of funk tinged disco, the catchy psychadelic guitar on Seguida's,"Om Marreo," and "Shoot the pump," by J Walter Negro, an early indication of what would be called hip-hop.
Stuart Baker's liner notes are concise and revealing, providing the listener with a potted history of the evolution of the musical styles that grew up and developed in,"Latino," New York, the attempt to homogenous it as a style with the blanket term,"Salsa," and the subsequent blurring and absorbtion of Latin culture in the eighties with the explosion of rap.
Soul Jazz are standard bearers in these kind of compilations, revisiting forgotten classics and unearthing rare hidden gems, "New York Latin Hustle," reaches the high standard they've set themselves. I'll be waiting with baited breath for volume two.