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Latin, Salsa, Soca, Tropicalia etc.

165 articles

Trini Lopez: Pop-Folk Is Here To Stay — Like It Or Not

Profile by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 5 October 1963

SOME SAY IT'S TOO COMMERCIAL, IMPURE, PHONEY, ETC., BUT WHATEVER THEY SAY ABOUT IT... ...

The Lovin' Spoonful, Sergio Mendes: Sergio Mendes' Brasil '65: El Matador; The Lovin' Spoonful: hungry I, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 19 October 1965

Some Bright New Music ...

Herb Alpert, Jimmie Rodgers (pop): Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Jimmie Rodgers: Community Theater, Berkeley CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 19 February 1966

Slick, Simple Tijuana Brass ...

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 15 October 1966

SEVENTY minutes of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass captivated a capacity 7,000 audience at London's Royal Albert Hall on Friday. Herb and his superb ...

Herb Alpert, Sergio Mendes: A&M Records Tooting Its Own Horn

Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 29 September 1967

ON A 2.3-ACRE lot near the corner of La Brea and Sunset in Hollywood sits one of the most successful record companies in the country, ...

Santana: Matrix, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 14 November 1968

Santana Band Up Close ...

Jose Feliciano Sings the Star-Spangled Banner

Report and Interview by Ritchie Yorke, Rolling Stone, 4 January 1969

JOSE FELICIANO sat stiffly on a wooden stool in the middle of sun-bathed Detroit Stadium, his burgundy suit almost gaudy below the glint of his ...

Sergio Mendes: What Exactly Is Brazil 66? Sergio knows...

Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 11 January 1969

IN IPANEMA, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, a pianist-singer-arranger-composer named Sergio Mendes conceived what is known today as Brasil '66. A hotter-than-hot recording sound ...

Sergio Mendes: Brasil '66 Bring A Taste Of Latin Rock

Interview by Royston Eldridge, Melody Maker, 18 January 1969

WE'VE HAD just about every kind of rock you can imagine — rock and roll, rocksteady, hard-rock... but now there's a new one and it's ...

Jose Feliciano, Willie Bobo: Downing Stadium, Randall's Island, New York NY

Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 28 July 1969

Jose Feliciano Gives A Bilingual Concert On Randall's Island ...

Santana: Santana (Columbia CS 9781)

Review by Lenny Kaye, Fusion, 28 November 1969

THERE ARE guitar bands. There are vocal bands. There are organ bands, horn bands, sometimes stray combinations of all of the above. ...

Terry Reid, Santana: Santana, Terry Reid: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Mark Plummer, Melody Maker, 15 May 1971

Slick, smooth Santana ...

Ray Barretto, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria: Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente et al: All-Latin Music Festival, Madison Square Garden, New York NY

Live Review by Ian Dove, The New York Times, 13 November 1972

Militancy Replaces Old Frills At First Latin Music Festival ...

Santana: Soul Man: Santana

Comment by Vernon Gibbs, Crawdaddy!, February 1973

CARLOS SANTANA laid his gleamingly new Gibson double electric white lead carefully on the stage of The Academy of Music and the M.C. reverently requested ...

La Lupe, Tito Puente: When La Lupe Sings, She Gets Involved

Profile and Interview by Ian Dove, The New York Times, 4 February 1973

THE HOUSEWIFE in Engelwood, N.J., who shops the local supermarket with her mother is also the official "Queen of Latin Song," with partisan audiences that ...

Manu Dibango, The Fania All Stars, Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, El , Mongo Santamaria, Jorge Santana: Fania All Stars, Mongo Santamaria, Manu Dibango et al: Yankee Stadium, The Bronx NY

Live Review by Ian Dove, The New York Times, 26 August 1973

'OUR LATIN THING' PLAYS AT STADIUM 30,000 See Fania All Stars and Others at Second Base ...

Santana: Welcome

Review by Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 19 January 1974

SANTANA WERE always a good group, even though debs and deadheads liked them and played 'Soul Sacrifice' endlessly at boring Friday night Strand-ups. ...

Bad Company, Santana: Santana, Bad Company: Robertson Gymnasium, University of California at Santa Barbara

Live Review by David Rensin, Rolling Stone, 12 September 1974

Carlos in a Cavern: Jazz, Sort of ...

Héctor Lavoe Orchestra: The Nashville, London

Live Review by Miles, New Musical Express, 22 November 1975

And you thought Latin music meant Edmundo Ros... ...

Ray Barretto, Willie Colon, The Fania All Stars, Larry Harlow, Johnny Pacheco, Eddie Palmieri, Mongo Santamaria: Salsa Spoken Here

Overview by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 24 January 1976

Richard Williams introduces the Latin sound that comes into London this week ...

The Fania All Stars: Live

Live Review by Miles, New Musical Express, 31 January 1976

A TERRIBLE HANGOVER and a record comes under the front door. I pluck up the courage to put it on (the cover has such loud ...

The Fania All Stars: Fania All Stars: Salsa Live (Island Help 21)

Review by Idris Walters, Street Life, 7 February 1976

THIS IS the third pioneering Salsa release from Island distributed, presumably, to coincide with the band's recent London Lyceum show. ...

The Fania All Stars: The Fania All-Stars: It's Skinny [OLÉ] It's Dangerous [OLÉ OLÉ] And It Drinks Cheap Spanish Wine...

Overview by Miles, New Musical Express, 14 February 1976

With a rose clenched between his teeth, the man they call EL MILES infiltrates the heady, exotic world of the Strand Lyceum, where trousers are ...

The Salsoul Orchestra: Salsoul Orchestra: Salsoul Hustlers (Salsoul SZS 5501. $6.98)

Review by Mike Jahn, High Fidelity, April 1976

MORE THAN forty performers participated in the creation of this album, which nominally contributes to the current salsa trend but which in this case is ...

Flora Purim: Joy Of Flying

Profile and Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Street Life, 3 April 1976

EVERYTHING you ever heard about Minnie Riperton is true about Flora Purim. Truer, in fact, for not only does the 34 year-old Brazilian singer have ...

Jorge Ben: Samba Nova (Island HELP 23) ****

Review by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 17 April 1976

A HIGHLY palatable and agreeable waxing we have here. Now Jorge Ben means about as much to me as I mean to Jorge Ben (i.e. ...

Ray Barretto, Willie Colon, The Fania All Stars, Johnny Pacheco, Tito Puente, Santana: Sounds: Classics in Latin

Overview by Vernon Gibbs, Penthouse, January 1978

"YOU KNOW why salsa is so popular in New York?"  asks Izzy Sanabria, publisher of Latin New York. "Because the rhythms of salsa are the ...

Santana: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by David Hancock, Evening News, London, 31 October 1978

Soaring sound of Santana ...

Willie Bobo Band: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 2 January 1979

ALTHOUGH LARGELY unrecognized outside the jazz community until recently, Willie Bobo has been one of the prime forces in introducing Latin rhythms and percussion to ...

Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band, Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band: Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band: ...Goes To Washington (Elektra); Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band (ZE)

Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 16 February 1980

Recherchez le chic ...

Airto Moreira: the Venue, London

Live Review by Mick Brown, The Guardian, 23 September 1980

THAT SOUTH American music should have been the source of vitality and inspiration in jazz that it has over the past decade is due in ...

Kid Creole & the Coconuts: That Darnell Cat

Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1981

THIS MAN swaps heads like Tommy Cooper! Kid Creole — the desert island disco merchant of two bliss-full albums, the live spectacular and soon Broadway. ...

Machito: The Venue, London

Live Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 3 February 1982

IF THE utterly spurious salsa boom has achieved nothing else, at least it brought Machito to London for a performance on Monday night which presented ...

Blue Rondo a la Turk: Camden Palace, London

Live Review by Mick Brown, The Guardian, 8 September 1982

THE CAREER of Blue Rondo a la Turk illustrates vividly the perils of too close an association with style. Maligned by critics for the cut ...

Coati Mundi: The Former 12 Year Old Genius (Virgin)

Review by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 7 May 1983

MUNDI BLOODY MUNDI ...

The Brat, Carlos Guitarlos, Los Illegals, Los Lobos, The Plugz, Ruben and the Jets: East LA Rocks!

Report and Interview by Dave Zimmer, BAM, 1 July 1983

But bands find it's a long way from the Barrio to Hollywood... ...

The Brat, El Chicano, Los Illegals, Los Lobos, Tierra: Latino Bands

Overview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 8 January 1984

EVER SINCE Ritchie Valens rocketed into the national spotlight a quarter century ago with 'La Bamba', Los Angeles' Latino musicians have made repeated attempts to ...

Milton Nascimento

Interview by Carol Cooper, Downbeat, September 1984

For over a decade one of the most popular post-bossa Brazilian singer/composers, Nascimento finally arrives in the U.S. to demonstrate his particular brand of politically ...

Ruben Blades: Hot Salsa

Profile and Interview by RJ Smith, Creem, January 1985

NEW YORK — Ruben Blades grew up watching Rebel Without A Cause and Rock Around the Clock as many times as he could — and ...

Daniel Ponce: Shaw Theatre, London

Live Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 11 July 1985

SALSA, THE modern form of what was once know as Afro-Cuban music, has been threatening to catch on with a wider audience since the middle ...

Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto: Stan Getz: The guy from Ipanema

Retrospective by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 27 July 1985

Brian Case (grass skirt, hula-hoop) examines the resurgence in popularity of latinate saxman Stan Getz ...

Rubén Blades: Casino de Montreux, Montreux, Switzerland

Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 3 August 1985

FLASHING BLADES! ...

Sheila E.: Romance 1600 (I.R.S.)

Review by J.D. Considine, Musician, November 1985

ARTISTS USUALLY sound more distinctive and less derivative over time. Sheila E. seems to be moving in the opposite direction. The Glamorous Life, her solo ...

Sheila E.: Sheila E: Romance 1600 (Paisley Park/Warner Bros.)

Review by Davitt Sigerson, Rolling Stone, 21 November 1985

IT'S A PITY that Sheila E., Prince's only independently creative female artist, needs a twelve-minute collaboration with the Small One to make her second LP ...

Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Robert Cray, Microdisney, Yma Sumac: Microdisney: The Clock Comes Down The Stairs; Albert Collins et al: Showdown!; Yma Sumac: Legend Of The Sun Virgin

Review by Max Bell, The Times, 1 February 1986

Irish quirkiness and venom ...

Willie Colon, Gilberto Gil, Dizzy Gillespie, Milton Nascimento: ¿Te Gusta La Musica Latina?

Overview by David Toop, The Face, August 1986

FROM PANAMA DOWN THROUGH VENEZUELA TO BRAZIL, THIS MUSIC IS THE PULSE OF A CONTINENT. IN SOUTH AMERICA, SAMBAS CARRY SOCIAL STATEMENTS. THE DANCING IS ...

Sheila E.: Sheila E: Sheila E (Paisley Park Records)

Review by Frank Owen, Melody Maker, 28 February 1987

WHAT A strange place Paisley Park must be! It's as if the accoutrements of Sixties head culture synthesized with Seventies body culture to produce an ...

Rubén Blades y Seis del Solar: Agua de Luna (Elektra)

Review by Laura Fissinger, Rolling Stone, 26 March 1987

EVEN THOUGH Rubén Blades's English-language debut isn't due for a while yet, the Panamanian salsa star, lawyer, essayist, activist and actor has already been bear-hugged ...

David Rudder: When the Hammer Falls

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, New Musical Express, 17 October 1987

Calypso is the music and voice of Trinidad and DAVID RUDDER looks set to give it international appeal. PAOLO HEWITT meets him. ...

Ruben Blades: Panamanian Pandemonium: Ruben Blades: Musician, Actor, Activist

Report and Interview by Gerrie Lim, L.A. Style, July 1988

RUBEN BLADES, Panamanian musician and aspiring politician lately turned Hollywood actor, pulls from a pack the latest in a series of Merit Ultra Lights and ...

David Byrne: Byrne Compiles Brazil LP

Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 12 January 1989

Album spotlights 'tropicalismo' ...

The Noise From Brazil

Overview by Carol Cooper, Elle, August 1989

MARCO AURELIO DA SILVA, known as Mazola, sits hunched over the console in one of Rio’s top recording studios, waiting for a live horn section ...

Gloria Estefan: Estefan in Exile

Profile and Interview by Bruce Dessau, The Guardian, 15 September 1989

Bruce Dessau on the singer hailed by President Reagan as the capitalist face of communist Cuba. ...

Gloria Estefan: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 26 September 1989

Salsa rhythms propel the Havana beat ...

Gloria Estefan & The Miami Sound Machine: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Lloyd Bradley, The Independent, 30 September 1989

Hits that missed ...

Gloria Estefan: Treasure Island Ahoy!

Profile and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, October 1989

BASKING IN FLORIDA'S almost blood temperature waters, with the ice cream-coloured Miami Beach architecture in the background, the 50-acre, man-made haven of Star Island is ...

Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 14 October 1989

GLORIA ESTEFAN is a goddess. While popular music searches for something to pep up its ailing corpse and, typically, picks on rock music — I ...

David Byrne: Rei Momo

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, November 1989

DESPITE DAVID Byrne's beaver-like activities over the last few years, his persona and his work have gradually been losing much of their old allure. Perhaps ...

Gipsy Kings: Let's Do The Shoe Right Here!

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, January 1990

IN THE PLAIN of the Camargue, where the Rhone feeds into the Mediterranean, lies the small but distinguished town of Arles Settled by the Ancient ...

David Byrne: Town & Country Club, London

Live Review by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 6 January 1990

I'M NOT saying the first sign of rain should have you reaching for the Leonard Cohen Sings Joy Division album, but in the dazzling depression ...

David Byrne: Music, Maestro!

Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, February 1990

Although embarrassed at being hailed a "cultural ambassador", David Byrne has temporarily put Talking Heads on hold to step out with his 14-piece Latin big ...

David Byrne: Everybody Mambo!

Interview by Michael Azerrad, Hits, 19 March 1990

NO DOUBT about it, the musical flavor of the week is Latin/Brazilian — even Paul Simon's recording an album of Brazilian music. It figures that ...

Gloria Estefan

Interview by Chris Heath, Smash Hits, 9 January 1991

She was the toast of the pop world with her spicy Latin tunes! But then, last year, she narrowly escaped death in a coach accident ...

Gloria Estefan, Roger McGuinn: Gloria Estefan: Into the Light (Epic 4677821); Roger McGuinn: Back From Rio (Arista 261 348)

Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 8 February 1991

Breezy blend with a Cuban flavour ...

Gloria Estefan: Into The Light (Epic/All formats)

Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 16 February 1991

THE TRUE Empress of Pop is among us once more. The other pop stars are fine, but in comparison resemble cartoon characters. Neither Prince (boggly ...

Gloria Estefan: Into The Light

Review by Lloyd Bradley, Q, March 1991

GLORIA ESTEFAN'S FIRST new album since a coach crash last March left her with, among other things, a broken back. ...

Gloria Estefan: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 10 April 1991

THE SMALL but dynamic Gloria Estefan does not look like someone only recently recovered from a major back injury sustained in a road accident. ...

Cath Carroll: Home is where the heart is

Profile and Interview by Bruce Dessau, The Guardian, 31 July 1991

With the release of her rhythmic debut album, England Made Me, Cath Carroll crosses from punk past to Latin future, as Bruce Dessau reports ...

Caetano Veloso: Town Hall, New York City

Live Review by Richard Gehr, Newsday, 8 August 1991

Brazil's most respected singer-songwriter is a velvet-voiced visionary with a surreal sense of humor. Richard Gehr at Town Hall, Saturday night. ...

Art Blakey, Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard: Freddie Hubbard: From The University Of A&M (Art & Miles, Of Course)

Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Downbeat, October 1991

WHEN A 20-year-old Freddie Hubbard moved from Indianapolis to New York in 1958, every young trumpeter was being compared to Miles Davis, who was then ...

David Rudder: the Music Machine, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 28 July 1992

David Rudder's Potent Soca ...

Gloria Estefan: Spanish is the loving tongue

Interview by David Toop, The Times, 9 July 1993

For her latest album, Gloria Estefan went home — metaphorically — to Cuba. David Toop talked to her ...

Selena: Dreaming Of You  

Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 7 September 1995

MARTYRED MEXICAN-American superstar Selena, shot to death by her ex-fan club president outside a Corpus Christi, Texas, motel this past March, loved dressing skimpily onstage ...

Astrud Gilberto: The Jazz Cafe, Camden, London

Live Review by David Hemingway, Melody Maker, 23 December 1995

MAYBE THE crux of the matter is that we should constantly review and re-interpret our own definitions of cool. ...

Jeff Buckley, Esquivel: Jeff Buckley interviews Esquivel (1996)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 15 April 1996

Jeff Buckley asks the questions, and Esquivel gives us a glimpse of his happy half-century of music making.

File format: mp3; file size: 42.6meg, interview length: 44' 20" sound quality: **

Los Lobos: Wild Gift

Profile and Interview by Richard Gehr, Spin, June 1996

Years down the road, Los Lobos defy all odds, making the most radically experimental music of their career. Richard Gehr hones in on their secret ...

Gloria Estefan: Destiny (Epic/All formats)

Review by Ian Fortnam, New Musical Express, 1 June 1996

SO WHAT'S so glorious about Gloria? How come every time the woman delivers a casually conceived catalogue of choice cuts to her record company, she ...

Jennifer Lopez, Selena: Jennifer Lopez on Selena

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Interview, April 1997

In the new movie Selena, Jennifer Lopez had the coveted - yet unenviable - task of playing the most adored Latina singer ever, the late ...

Caetano Veloso: Tropicalia CDs: Samba takes a trip

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, 1998

ON THE DAY that man first trod upon the moon, Brazilian stars Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil were bidding a reluctant farewell to their homeland. ...

Os Mutantes: Meet the Mutants

Retrospective by Richard Gehr, Spin, February 1998

Brazil's pop bomb squad do the samba on Strawberry Fields ...

Tom Zé: Fabrication Defect (Luaka Bop/Warner Bros.)

Review by Richard Gehr, The Village Voice, May 1998

TOM ZÉ'S peculiar contribution to the Tropicalistas' highly influential 1968 collaborative album Tropicalia: Ou Panis Et Circencis was the satiric antidevelopment anthem ‘Parque Industrial’, which ...

Plastilina Mosh: Aquamosh  

Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 25 June 1998

TOO MANY recent "rock en español" hypes (Negu Gorriak, Niños con Bombas, Todos Tus Muertos) prove only that gratuitously pissed-off slam-dance funk can sound repulsive ...

Gloria Estefan: Gloria! (Epic 48950 4/2)

Review by Lucy O'Brien, Q, July 1998

Miami pop queen goes back to Latin disco roots in unashamedly good time fashion. ...

Marc Ribot: Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos (The Prosthetic Cubans) (Atlantic)

Review by Ted Drozdowski, Musician, October 1998

THE LAST time I saw Marc Ribot he was screaming into a microphone as his amplifier bled feedback, veins popping from his neck like battleship ...

Tom Ze: Fabrication Defect

Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 26 November 1998

LONG BEFORE the advent of samplers, Brazilian avant-Tropicalist Tom Zé was uniting seemingly opposed styles and constructing instruments from found objects – blenders, typewriters, floor ...

Vinicius Cantuária, Arto Lindsay: Arto Lindsay and Vinicius Cantuária: Songs for modern lovers

Interview by David Toop, The Wire, April 1999

Arto Lindsay transformed himself from extreme noise guitarist into the age's most intimate lover through his archaeology of Brazilian modernism. Now working in tandem with ...

Os Mutantes: Os Mutantes; Mutantes; A Divina Comedia Ou Ando Meio Desilgado (all Omplatten FJ0RD001-3 CD)

Review by Edwin Pouncey, The Wire, April 1999

IN THE 1960s Brazil declared war on rock 'n' roll. Any popular music betraying American or English influences — and that included the use of ...

Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Tom Ze: David Byrne Has Got His Ears Wide Open

Interview by James Hunter, New York Observer, 28 June 1999

  FOR THE last 10 years, David Byrne has run Luaka Bop, the Manhattan-based record label that specializes in international pop, with Yale Evelev, formerly of ...

Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin: Ifs and Butts: discs from Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin

Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 2 July 1999

As Latino pop looks set to take over the charts, Caroline Sullivan is only mildly impressed by the two artists leading the charge ...

Menudo, Ricky Martin: Ricky Martin

Interview by Bill Brewster, The Big Issue, 5 July 1999

What were your influences growing up in Puerto Rico? ...

Os Mutantes: Everything Is Possible! (Luaka Bop)

Review by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 3 September 1999

OS MUTANTES are the sort of dreamers you might have found on a wayward acid trip in 1969, sitting around a campfire in a Brazilian ...

Buena Vista Social Club, Ry Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González: Buena Vista Social Club (Director Wim Wenders; Starring: Ry Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez, Omara Portuondo, Eiiades Ochoa)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 18 September 1999

RY COODER'S tireless musical explorations hit unexpected paydirt when he visited Cuba in 1996 and recorded the sessions for the brilliant Buena Vista Social Club ...

Buena Vista Social Club, Ry Cooder: Buena Vista Brings Back Old Cuban Sound

Report and Interview by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 19 September 1999

WHEN CUBAN music finally returned to the United States, it picked up where it left off. ...

Santana: Jack of All Trades: Carlos Santana

Interview by Andy Gill, The Independent, 14 January 2000

AROUND THIS TIME every year, the American music industry holds its collective breath as the Grammy awards nominations are announced, eager to see which of ...

Kirsty MacColl: Tropical Brainstorm

Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 17 March 2000

Kirsty MacColl's first album since 1994 sees her flirting with Latin rhythms and cliched tourist-brochure lyrics. But, says Caroline Sullivan, it's better than you'd think ...

¡Cubanismo!, Jesús Alemañy: ¡Cubanismo!: Jesús Alemañy goes beyond Buena Vista

Report and Interview by j. poet, The Boston Phoenix, 17 April 2000

IT'S BEEN EASY to get the impression over the past couple of years that Cuban music starts and ends with the Buena Vista Social Club. ...

Buena Vista Social Club, Omara Portuondo: Omara Portuondo: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 29 April 2000

Cuba's Edith Piaf ...

Kid Creole & The Coconuts: Kid Creole and the Coconuts

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, May 2000

THINKING BACK to uptown Saturday nights past. I remember staring at my slicky-boy expression (circa 1982) in the bathroom mirror while the infectious 'I'm a ...

João Gilberto: the Barbican, London

Live Review by John L. Walters, The Guardian, 18 July 2000

TRY THIS FOR an example of musical minimalism: a man sits on a stool before a single microphone at the centre of a stage which ...

João Gilberto: Carnegie Hall, New York NY

Live Review by Bill DeMain, MOJO, August 2000

Set List: 'Doralice'/'Vivo Sohondo'/'Ecliose'/'Samba De Una Nota So'/'Samba Da Minha Terra'/'Voce Vai Ver'/'Bonita'/'Morena Boca De Ouro'/'A Felicidade'/'O Pato'/'Estate'/'Chega De Saudade'/'Um Abraco No Bonfa'/'Sem Compromisso'/'S'Wonderful'/'Wave'/'Triste'/'Eu Vim ...

Astor Piazzolla: Maria Susana Azzi & Simon Collier: Le Grand Tango – The Life & Music Of Astor Piazzolla (Oxford University Press)

Book Review by David Toop, The Wire, September 2000

THE REVOLUTIONARY tango music of Argentinian composer and bandoneon virtuoso Astor Piazzolla is one of the great treasures of 20th century art. ...

Jazzanova: Remixes 1997–2000 (Jazzanova Compost)

Review by Kodwo Eshun, The Wire, November 2000

IF YOU LISTEN forward from mid-90s Adam F to late 90s Shy FX to early noughties Hospital Recordings, it immediately becomes apparent that 'jazziness' in ...

Los Lobos: Just Another Band From East L.A./El Cancionero – Mas y Mas

Review by Geoffrey Himes, Rolling Stone, 9 November 2000

The rare first album and a new four-disc set from the Mexican-American greats ...

Celia Cruz

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. Santos Saurez, 21 October 1920, Havana, Cuba ...

Gloria Estefan

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. Gloria Maria Fajardo, 1 September 1957, Havana, Cuba ...

Mongo Santamaria

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. Ramos Santamaria, 7 April 1922, Havana, Cuba ...

Tito Puente

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Comapnion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. 20 April 1923, Harlem, New York City, USA, d. 31 May 2000 ...

Trini Lopez

Book Excerpt by Phil Hardy, Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, 2001

b. Trinidad Lopez III, 15 May 1937, Dallas, Texas, USA ...

Jack Costanzo: And The Beat Goes On… Mr Bongo: Jack Costanzo

Profile and Interview by James Maycock, The Independent, 2 February 2001

The Man Who Started The '50's Bongo Craze ...

Fun Lovin' Criminals: Loco (Chrysalis)

Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 23 February 2001

Felonious funk: Caroline Sullivan enjoys the wiseguy Lotharios of New York ...

Los Lobos: The Entertainers: Learning from Los Lobos

Review by Nick Hornby, The New Yorker, 23 April 2001

WHAT A PIECE OF WORK is a boxed set! How infinite(ish) in faculty! In action, how like an angel! ...

Cachaito: Buena Vista Bassman

Report and Interview by Mark Hudson, Daily Telegraph, June 2001

A TOUGH-LOOKING character in a back-to-front baseball cap slaps hard around a semi-circle of conga drums. An older man, small and self-contained, who could easily ...

Paco de Lucia: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 30 June 2001

DESPITE ALL the detours in Paco de Lucia's career, his current seven-piece ensemble maintains links with his past. Still present from the group's original 1981 ...

Shakira: Soft rock and the hard sell

Profile and Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 8 March 2002

Shakira sells millions of records in her native Colombia, has just conquered America and now has her sights on Britain. Lisa Verrico met her ...

Señor Coconut y Su Conjunto: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by John L. Walters, The Guardian, 29 June 2002

WHAT A TREAT — to sip a cup of Assam in the Festival Hall ballroom while Señor Coconut y Su Conjunto play Kraftwerk cover versions ...

Shakira: Colombian Gold

Interview by Ted Kessler, The Observer, 14 July 2002

As a schoolgirl she drove the nuns crazy with her belly dancing, now she's got the world gyrating. Ted Kessler meets Shakira, the Colombian superstar ...

Senor Coconut y su Conjunto: El Baile Aleman (New State Recordings)

Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 16 August 2002

DESPITE HIS name, his album title and the fact that his introduction is in Spanish, Senor Coconut is a German called Uwe Schmidt who fronts ...

Caetano Veloso: Tropical Truth: A Story of Music and Revolution in Brazil (Knopf)

Book Review by Will Hermes, The Village Voice, 24 September 2002

IT'S TOUGH TO imagine an American pop star penning a memoir like Tropical Truth. That's not just because our musical celebs are rarely imprisoned for ...

Shakira: Latin Chancer

Profile by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 14 December 2002

Shakira should forget the political posturing, says Lisa Verrico, and stick to what she does best — making music and looking good. ...

Shakira: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 17 December 2002

NO MATTER where you sat in Wembley Arena on Monday night, you were never far from open-mouthed men trying not to drool at this year's ...

Kinky, Manuel Galbán, Ry Cooder: Ry Cooder & Manuel Gálban: Mambo Sinuendo; Kinky: Kinky

Review by Andy Gill, The Word, March 2003

Perfuming Each Moment ...

Brujeria: This Is Jarcor: Brujeria

Profile and Interview by Chris Campion, Dazed & Confused, July 2003

Mexican Death metal band Brujeria are the white man's nightmare. Striking mortal fear into the populace both north and south of the border for over ...

Bebel Gilberto: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by John L. Walters, The Guardian, 25 July 2003

BEBEL GILBERTO'S Tanto Tempo was the great summer album of 2000. And 2001. And 2002. ...

Nelly Furtado: Looking back to go forward

Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 6 December 2003

Pressured by the expectations for her new album, Nelly Furtado dug into her Latin roots for inspiration, she tells Lisa Verrico. ...

The Fania All Stars: Fania All Stars: Our Latin Thing

Sleeve notes by James Maycock, Vampi Soul Records, 2004

ON 19TH JULY, 1972, the first few images flickering on the screen at the premiere of Our Latin Thing in New York’s Line 2 cinema ...

Joe Bataan: Young, Gifted And Brown

Sleeve notes by James Maycock, Vampi Soul Records, 2004

A ROMANTIC STREET punk, a jailbird with spirit, a champion of the blue-collar underdog – Joe Bataan is a rebel with soul. ...

Johnny Pacheco: Latin Swing's Last Lion: 
Johnny Pacheco Returns to the New York His Salsa Once Changed

Profile and Interview by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 20 January 2004

DAPPER, CHARISMATIC, and 68 years young, Johnny Pacheco is one of New York's cultural lions, a Juilliard alumnus who revolutionized the way Afro-Latin swing, a/k/a ...

Eddie Palmieri: The Man Who Stirred Up Salsa

Interview by Mark Hudson, Daily Telegraph, 25 March 2004

Eddie Palmieri, maverick genius and opening act in next month's Latin music festival at the South Bank, tells Mark Hudson why salsa is more than ...

Bebel Gilberto: Joao And Bebel Gilberto

Profile and Interview by James Maycock, The Times, June 2004

IT WAS IN THE summer of ‘64, 40 years ago this month, that Joao Gilberto’s ‘A Girl From Ipanema’ was released. A huge global ...

Los Lobos: The Ride

Review by Joe Nick Patoski, Harp, September 2004

WHEN IT COMES to defining American music over the past quarter century, no band comes close to Los Lobos. ...

Shakira (2005)

Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages audio, 2005

The Latino Lioness on her Oral Fixation album, writing in English, politics and poverty, and the benefits of belly dancing.

file format: mp3; file size: 22mb; Interview length: 24' 13"; sound quality: ****

Shakira (2005) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 2005

This is a transcription of Gavin's audio interview with Shakira. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

The Fania All Stars: Rumba In The Jungle: Fania All Stars Live In Africa

Sleeve notes by James Maycock, Vampi Soul DVD, 21 February 2005

1974 WAS A fine year for Jerry Masucci's golden boys. Following the triumphs of Our Latin Thing, the Fania All Stars broke out across the ...

Bebel Gilberto: Ziriguiboom

Retrospective by John L. Walters, TuneTribe, 15 May 2005

SINCE THE LATE 1990s, the Crammed Discs spin-off label Ziriguiboom has produced a small, well considered series of Brazilian albums, the most famous of which ...

Ry Cooder: Chavez Ravine (Nonesuch)

Review and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, July 2005

AFTER A DECADE of travels that's taken him from Timbuktu to Cuba, Ry Cooder has come home to shine a light on a shameful episode ...

Ry Cooder: Long Road Home

Interview by Alan Light, Mother Jones, July 2005

Ry Cooder's new album tunes into L.A.'s Chavez Ravine and the dawn of Chicano consciousness. ...

Shakira: Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 (Epic)

Review by Mark Kemp, Paste, 23 August 2005

Beyond the Belly: Colombian songstress trumps lazy stereotypes with raw talent ...

Sergio Mendes: Legends of Songwriting: Sergio Mendes

Interview by Bill DeMain, Performing Songwriter, October 2005

ON TIMELESS, the latest album by Sergio Mendes, there's a line in the title track that goes, "Kindness is timeless/Love is so easy." ...

Santana: Carlos Santana: Many hippie returns

Interview by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 6 November 2005

He played at Woodstock while out of his brain on LSD. But at 58, Carlos Santana isn't just a 1960s relic: stars like Beyoncé and ...

Ry Cooder: Chávez Ravine (Nonesuch)

Review by John L. Walters, TuneTribe, Summer 2005

CHÁVEZ RAVINE is Ry Cooder's What A Carve Up, a multilayered song-cycle about the way a Hispanic neighbourhood of Los Angeles was cleared to make ...

Tom Zé: Estudando O Pagode

Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 15 June 2006

Eclectic miniopera from Brazilian master of the weird ...

Pitbull: English. Spanish. Reggaeton. Crunk.

Interview by Amy Linden, XXL, August 2006

He's got a lot more to talk about than culo. And major issues other than money. Straight outta Miami's Little Havana, Cubano rapper Pitbull wants ...

Thee Midniters: In Thee Midnite Hour

Review by John Morthland, No Depression, 31 October 2006

THEE MIDNITERS were best-known as kings of East Los Angeles rock in the '60s, but this collection of uptempo material will hopefully change that: They ...

Alison Hinds: Notting Hill Carnival: Alison Hinds ready to reign at Carnival

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 23 August 2007

'Roll It Gal' by Alison Hinds will be the song that rules this weekend's Notting Hill Carnival. Angus Batey meets the Barbadian star. ...

Caetano Veloso

Interview by John Lewis, Metro, September 2007

"I QUITE LIKE the fact that, as I get older, my audience seems to get younger," laughs Caetano Veloso. The Brazilian megastar has played London ...

Eddie Palmieri & La Perfecta: Sugar Daddy

Sleeve notes by James Maycock, Fania CD, September 2007

THE HIP DANCEFLOOR RHYTHMS OF PALMIERI'S LA PERFECTA: 1962-1967 ...

Mario Telles: Mario Telles

Sleeve notes by Tim Tooher, Rev-Ola Records, September 2007

THE SUBTLE DANCE between melody and meaning, both music and lyrics, is what makes a song. This should, and often does, lessen the appeal of ...

Ersi Arvizu: Friend for Life

Review by John Morthland, No Depression, 29 December 2008

ERSI ARVIZU is best-known for her stint with El Chicano, a jazz-inflected East Los Angeles rock band of the early 1970s, but she sang in ...

Shontelle is the feisty feminist Rihanna

Interview by Lisa Verrico, The Times, 25 January 2009

R&B artist and Barbados-born singer Layne is female Sean Paul with fame within her grasp, after single, 'T-Shirt', proved a hit ...

Santana's Michael Shrieve (2009)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, June 2009

The Santana drummer remembers the glory days — Abraxas, Woodstock etc. — and the coke, Coke Escovedo and the crumbling of the band.

File format: mp3; file size: 42.1mb, interview length: 45' 56" sound quality: * (phoner)

Shakira: She Wolf (Epic)

Review by Mike Diver, bbc.co.uk, October 2009

THERE'S MUCH to like about diminutive Columbian singer Shakira (Isabel Mebarak Ripoll), best known to this day for 2001's breakthrough Whenever, Wherever and her global ...

Shakira Wants to Fight Poverty and Offer Escapism

Interview by Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror, 4 December 2009

SHAKIRA'S THE 50 million-selling pocket-sized Colombian superstar whose high-profile charity work, runaway international success and eye-boggling performances comprise a perfect combination of brain power and ...

Rodrigo y Gabriela: Natural Acoustics: Rodrigo y Gabriela

Report and Interview by David Burke, R2/Rock'n'Reel, January 2010

YOU'D THINK a pair of former thrash-metal heads from Mexico City would have the kind of backstage rider that was a hedonistic Eden. Not a ...

Los Lobos: Tin Can Trust

Review by Pete Paphides, The Times, 6 August 2010

Another quality offering from the L.A. outfit who once styled themselves "just another band" – but are definitely not. ...

DJ Turmix, Spanglish Fly: Boogaloo! with Spanglish Fly, DJ Turmix:
 Nublu, New York


Live Review by Carol Cooper, The Village Voice, 8 July 2011

IT COULD HAVE been a disaster – subway service to Loisaida was screwed up (again), it was raining, one of the club's turntables was on ...

August Darnell, Kid Creole & The Coconuts: Kid Creole: "I'm not a party man anymore"

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 7 September 2011

He was a zoot-suited wise guy who crooned out hit after hit. Now Kid Creole is back. Paul Lester meets the man who blew a ...

Herb Alpert: Fandango

Sleeve notes by Gene Sculatti, Shout! Factory Records, 2012

IN 1975, at the age of 32, Mick Jagger famously uttered one of the more regrettable, bite-yourself-in-the-behind remarks in modern pop history. "I'd rather be ...

Rodrigo y Gabriela: Area 52

Review by Johnny Sharp, bbc.co.uk, January 2012

Nine numbers from the pair's back catalogue are reworked, with mixed results. ...

Marcos Valle: Marcos Valle/Garra/Vento Sul/Previsão Do Tempo (Light In The Attic)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2012

Four long-unavailable Brazilian classics by surfing bossa nova star seeking to ride newer waves. ...

Lovey's Original Trinidad String Band: Calypso Dawn (Bear Family)

Review by Mike Atherton, Echoes, 2013

THIS IS A REMARKABLE album. It captures the music of a Trinidadian dance band which, while undertaking a tour of the USA, recorded sessions for ...

Gloria Estefan: how her rhythm got America … and the world

Retrospective and Interview by Maura Johnston, The Guardian, 25 November 2015

Pop hits with Latino influences are de rigueur now — and no one has had a greater impact on this state of affairs than Cuban-Americans ...

August Darnell, Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, Kid Creole & The Coconuts: August Darnell: Kid Creole's Alter-Ego Mounts a NY Musical

Report and Interview by Larry Jaffee, Huffington Post, 21 May 2016

THE BREAKOUT HIT from the first Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band album in 1976 was 'Cherchez la Femme', a sublime dance hit that even appealed ...

Ed Motta: Perpetual Gateways

Review by John L. Walters, London Jazz News, 2 July 2016

ED MOTTA's music can be an acquired taste. This is not because his music is especially challenging or 'difficult' — though his use of harmony ...

Camila Cabello: Camila

Review by Graeme Thomson, Mail On Sunday, 13 January 2018

A 20-YEAR-OLD Cuban-American with Mexican roots, Camila Cabello's lineage may not be to the taste of Donald Trump, but she at least grabbed the ear ...

Camila Cabello: O2 Academy, Glasgow

Live Review by Graeme Thomson, Mail On Sunday, 9 June 2018

Cabello launches the opening night of her tour like a woman hell-bent on cramming every idea she's ever had into 80 frantic minutes. ...

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