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We’ve taken a selection of the most in-demand and asked-for titles in our Brazil 45’s catalogue and given them a loving remaster and repress.

This edition takes two hugely sought-after tracks from Quinteto Ternura, and their original outfit Trio Ternura, and cuts them loud and proud on either side of a seven inch.

First up, a hit of pure sunshine from Quinteto Ternura. Trio Ternura, who were made up of two sisters, Jussara, Jurema and their brother Robson, also formed Quinteto Ternura by joining forces with Léo and Zé Roberto. ‘Baby’ is an absolutely killer, blissful Brazilian modern soul jam written by Caetano Veloso, arranged by Arthur Verocai, covering Gal Costa. Once a real rarity in Brazil, this beauty is now accessible for all to enjoy and is one that rarely leaves our record bags. Taken from the Quinteto Ternura self-titled LP from 1974.

On the flip side, ‘Filhos De Zambi’ is an exquisite, uptempo samba-funk cut from the same year, but released as the siblings original Trio Ternura lineup. Infectious, feel-good fire from the trio, co-written by their father Umberto Silva and José Ribamar. Contains a brilliant, harmonised chorus and wondrous key change that is sure to light up any dancefloor.

Reissue of the 5th studio album by Brazilian jazz legend Antônio Carlos Jobim. Considered one of Jobim’s best albums, this masterpiece peaked at #5 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. It features a plethora of star sidemen, such as Dom Um Romão, Claudio Slon, Jerome Richardson, Ron Carter & Urbie Green, among others, as well as superb arrangements by Claus Ogerman.

Following on from last years's "Mondo Organico" compilation, the latest Invisible Inc compilation EP "Mondo Ritmo" sets its sights firmly on rhythm and percussion. Featuring a global array of artists hailing from Argentina to Senegal and everywhere in between, the influences and styles featured include latin, afro, dub, dancehall, experimental, acid and more. Proven and tested dancefloor bombs are Mytron & Balam's opening track "Cabasa Loca" which label boss GK Machine has been spinning at his Wrong Party nights and elsewhere for the last 6 months or so...and the house/dancehall hybrid floor filler "Wicked Can't Run" by LA producer Tom Chasteen (Exist Dance/Dub Club) featuring legendary Jamaican DJ and toaster U Brown, and mixed by equally legendary producer/keyboardist David Harrow who first came to our attention through his regular keyboard contributions to all things On-U Sound related in the 1980s.

The rest of the tracks may not be peak time bangers but they are sure to please the more esoteric and adventurous dancefloors out there...it's an honour to have on board Calypso Records head honcho Thomass Jackson, Thomash (Voodoohop) and Gats (Suçuarana / Curuba) who together as Changa Boys bring in Senegalese drummer Ndiaxo dal Jaam, and last but not least a certain Machine with assistance on percussion from the mysterious Congo Caveman.

Here it comes the first tropical Uluru! The A side sees an instant classic from uprising french producer Yeahman! Produced in 2016, this jewel sees the light for the first time on a 7” and featured some “badman” lyrics on a crispy cumbia beat. On the b side we welcome to the label Austrian trio Restless Leg Syndrome with a classic cumbia re-work called Hornrace. Pull up guaranteed! Pressed on high quality black and turquoise vinyl (38 gr.) Edition of 500, coming with “hand stamped” paper sleeves.

Here at Mr Bongo we have been inundated with people asking us to reissue this release. Ana Frango Elétrico's petit cult classic masterpiece 'Little Electric Chicken Heart' from 2019, which was only ever released on vinyl and CD in Brazil and Japan, has fast become a collector's item.

Well received by fans, DJs, and reviewers on release, The Needle Drop expressed "Ana Frango Elétrico's authentically vintage fusion of chamber pop, rock, samba and jazz is a real blast!" listing it as one of its Top 50 Albums of 2019. The album's reputation has been slowly building ever since, gaining a Latin Grammy nomination in 2020, and now solidly cementing itself as a gem of contemporary Brazilian music.

Across the albums nine tracks, Ana blends elements and influences from MPB, Tropicália, indie rock, punk and pop, forging them together with a sumptuous dose of her signature style. The finesse of 'Saudade' kicks off the LP, one of Ana's most known tracks to a non-Brazilian audience. A sublime opener, beginning with a spellbinding piano solo before transcending into a beautiful dream-laden slice of warmth, complete with luscious jazzy horns and deft vocal delivery. ‘Promessa e previsões’ follows, the only track on the album not to be written by Ana, instead being penned by Chico França. It’s a swelling and sweeping twilight groover, building and breaking across absorbing peaks.

Other highlights on the album include the anthemic 'Chocolate', which was a firm favourite with a packed sing-along crowd when we heard Ana perform it live. Elsewhere, 'Se No Cinema' hits with its quirky allure, charm and catchy melodies before transforming into a carnival spirit.

Tapping into the richness of Brazil’s new wave of musical energy, the album also includes a heavyweight lineup of collaborations with artists such as Dora Morelenbaum (Bala Desejo), Tim Bernardes, Antonio Neves and Guilherme Lirio to name but a few.

A short, sweet and refreshing record, that leaves nothing to waste, marrying playful ideas with poignant themes. 'Little Electric Chicken Heart' is a future classic and will beguile fans of ‘70s Brazilian recordings, Gal Costa, Mac DeMarco, Stereolab, Superorganism, Caetano Veloso and more.

Sourced From The Original Master Tapes; Out of print since the 1960s

Now joining Jackpot Record's ever-expanding collection of Martin Denny re-issues is the hypnotic "visual sound" of Exotic Percussion, which has not been on vinyl since its original release in 1961.

His production on Exotic Percussion is ambitious, adventurous, and fascinatingly futuristic, especially when a tumbler with ice was still the preferred way to let loose. Xylophones and chimes swim from ear to ear; traditional jazz instrumentation collides with such musical oddities as boo bas, shamisens, Manga harp, and Burmese gongs.

As always, the choice of compositions on a Martin Denny record is a bizarre yet exciting spin around the globe, but this one is even weirder than usual. From the faster-than-light of "Cumana" to the luscious groove of "Moonlight On The Ganges" (made famous by Frank Sinatra and a track that is still being played on a loop at Disneylan's Jungle Cruise attraction), it's a whiplash of a ride. But the stand-out on the record is the combo of "Misirlou" (which would be made famous a few years later by Dick Dale and even decades later with its appearance in Pulp Fiction).

So join the conga line and head out into the street as Martin Denny once again creates a world we yearn to return to and an album we can always revisit.

LP reissue from this 1970 album, originally out on Phillips. Totally brilliant. A unique blend of samba and soul, that apparently transformed Brazilian music from the release of this record onwards. Trio Mocoto joins Jorge Ben on this album, and it's their percussive sound, Jorge's voice and the light string arrangements that create pure magic... Highly recommended!

Heralded by the “Soul Drum” 12” EP (scep507, 2022), Gerardo Frisina’s new double record “Joyful Sound” represents another step forward on his ongoing travel towards new musical paths. Joyful sounds narrate a journey made of wisely distilled notes, bright and sometimes mysterious atmospheres, harmonies that wander through shadows, silences, and lights. A chameleonic Gerardo enchants with every release, mixing jazz, Latin, Afro-Cuban sounds, oriental fragrances, electronic beats, tribal percussions, funky variations and, to summarize, elegant symphonic arrangements with refined mastery. “Joyful Sound” once again sees the participation of the late Enzo Frassi (double bass), Fabrizio Bernasconi (piano, Rhodes), Gendrickson Mena (trumpet, piano), Alfonso Deidda (sax, flute) and Ernesto Lopez (drums, percussion), with the addition of Piero Perelli on drums and Giovanni Guerretti on piano, Hammond and Rhodes. This new record, carefully orchestrated and produced by Gerardo, required over a year of intense work, however it is worth every second of its 75 minutes of music. As the great Charles Mingus once said, “Play it in the key of your soul”. Without a doubt, Gerardo always gives his soul in full!

Many music fans will remember Jimmy Salcedo due to his wonderful work as arranger and producer with the duo Elia and Elizabeth in the early 70s. Their delicate songwriting acquired, after his treatment, a special Tropical aroma that even included the funk influences received by Salcedo at that time. He released with his band, La Onda Tres, a few LPs and singles that had a limited distribution, mainly in Colombia only. This anthology comprises a selection of songs that celebrate Salcedo's sound signature: a base of coastal funk with vocals and melodic bubblegum-bomb arrangements and hints of light psychedelia. Many of the compiled songs became popular radio hits in Colombia that Jimmy Salcedo and La Onda Tres recorded and arranged at the Zeida studios in Medellín.These recordings include Latin-jazz tracks ('Mira') with stunning percussion solos, songs recorded under a heavy Caribbean-soul influence ('¡Qué linda es Colombia!' and 'Lo mismo de siempre') 'Maranguango', an irresistible mix of Afrolatin percussion and catchy Tropical harmonies spiced up with moog keyboard sounds, fuzz and wah wah guitars and even touches of hammond, in a psychedelic funk style, an exhilarating moog driven instrumental with a heavy Afro-funk rhythm ('Moogambo') and revisited Latin classics ('Moliendo Café').Jimmy Salcedo's big popularity in Colombia is due however to his long career as TV presenter at 'El Show de Jimmy', running for over 20 years, where he would also perform with his band and act as a comedian. His life was tragically cut short and died in 1992, when he was only 48, due to health issues. This compilation celebrates his superb musical legacy and makes most of these songs available again for the first time.

To call Marcos Valle 'a legend' of Brazilian music is much more than just easy press-release hype. As singer, writer, musician and record producer, Marcos has played an integral role shaping the sound of the country’s music from the 'golden era' of the 60s and 70s, through to the modern day. Alongside his brother, Paulo Sergio Valle, they have penned a huge catalogue of classic songs, not just for themselves but for other greats such as Elza Soares, Astrud Gilberto, Claudia to name a few.
‘Braziliance!’ takes things back to the early heady days of Marcos’ career with the bright and optimistic sound of Rio's Bossa Nova scene. It includes an instrumental version of ’Crickets Sing For Anamaria’ or 'Os Grilos’ in Portuguese, which would also be re-recorded with
vocals. Though only in his early twenties at the time, ‘Braziliance!’ depicts very sophisticated production for a musician so young. Recorded in 1966, produced by Louis Oliveira and Ray Gilberts with arrangements by the very talented Emir Deodato, the album was released on Warner Bros. Records. The artwork presents a very clean-cut, wholesome looking Marcos but darker things were around the corner for Brazil. The ‘Tropicalica’ movement was on its way and about to shake thighs up both musically and politically. Unlike some of his Bossa Nova contemporaries, Marcos continued to stay relevant, surfing the changes and adapting to the musical developments that culture and society projected and needed, without comprising his art.
Under exclusive license to Light In The Attic Records & Distribution, LLC | Mr Bongo Records.

Parisian producer Wealstarcks broadens our world through his music. The French-born producer/DJ was raised in the city of light, but his sound is nomadic as he masterfully arranges House music, and Brazilian culture. His first ever released “Gratidaoh” 2021 generated millions of streams and since then, the vinyl edition has been heavily on demand. His DJ sets are known to command a room and lower inhibitions, from Rio de Janeiro to Milan and his production credits include eminent names around the world from Tory Lanez to French rapper Booba or Italian singer Sfera Ebbasta. The LP “Gratidaoh” is finally available thru São Paulo based label SDB Discos on a limited edition and 45rpm for best sound quality! Grab yours!

Continuing the Mr Bongo Cuban Classics Series, we shine a light on Los Reyes 73 and their sensational debut LP from 1975. The album had multiple different pressings under various titles and artworks, but the music stayed the same and speaks for itself. The group set the bar high with this fiery Afro-Cuban-funk gem, letting loose a vibrant Latin workout combining psych rock trippiness with a heavy dose of deep funk. Elements that fuse to firmly cement this album as a ‘70s Cuban masterpiece and one of our favourites here at Mr Bongo HQ.

Releasing just two albums and a handful of 7-inch singles, the band were a popular and influential group in Cuba at the time. Since then, they have featured on several compilation albums across the 2000s that have helped raise their profile amongst new audiences worldwide.

Produced by the magical Raúl Gómez, the album featured a list of heavyweight Cuban musicians. Directed by Santiago Reyes and Ovidio Guerra, with orchestration from greats including Ricardo Eddy Martinez who also released the much-loved album 'Expreso Ritmico' in 1978 alongside Ignacio Herrera, Mario Valdes and Gilberto García. The album also features the writing prowess of Los Van Van’s Miguel Ángel Rasalps.

Blending traditional Cuban Son aesthetics with funk influences and psychedelic touches, the music housed within showcases a cosmic fusion that stands up on any modern dancefloor. The scintillating opener ‘Grandes Amigos’, the tripped out ‘Adeoey’ and the grooving ‘Un Lamento Hecho Cancion’ are just a handful of examples that exhibit the sheer musical melting pot of this album.

For this reissue, we have chosen to use the artwork from a Mexican version of the album released on Pentagrama Records that features the beautiful bird illustration cover art. The Cuban edition was released on the state-run Areito.

An outstanding and wondrous Latin record that has long been calling out for an official reissue.

Here at Mr Bongo we have been inundated with people asking us to reissue this release. Ana Frango Elétrico's petit cult classic masterpiece 'Little Electric Chicken Heart' from 2019, which was only ever released on vinyl and CD in Brazil and Japan, has fast become a collector's item.

Well received by fans, DJs, and reviewers on release, The Needle Drop expressed "Ana Frango Elétrico's authentically vintage fusion of chamber pop, rock, samba and jazz is a real blast!" listing it as one of its Top 50 Albums of 2019. The album's reputation has been slowly building ever since, gaining a Latin Grammy nomination in 2020, and now solidly cementing itself as a gem of contemporary Brazilian music.

Across the albums nine tracks, Ana blends elements and influences from MPB, Tropicália, indie rock, punk and pop, forging them together with a sumptuous dose of her signature style. The finesse of 'Saudade' kicks off the LP, one of Ana's most known tracks to a non-Brazilian audience. A sublime opener, beginning with a spellbinding piano solo before transcending into a beautiful dream-laden slice of warmth, complete with luscious jazzy horns and deft vocal delivery. ‘Promessa e previsões’ follows, the only track on the album not to be written by Ana, instead being penned by Chico França. It’s a swelling and sweeping twilight groover, building and breaking across absorbing peaks.

Other highlights on the album include the anthemic 'Chocolate', which was a firm favourite with a packed sing-along crowd when we heard Ana perform it live. Elsewhere, 'Se No Cinema' hits with its quirky allure, charm and catchy melodies before transforming into a carnival spirit.

Tapping into the richness of Brazil’s new wave of musical energy, the album also includes a heavyweight lineup of collaborations with artists such as Dora Morelenbaum (Bala Desejo), Tim Bernardes, Antonio Neves and Guilherme Lirio to name but a few.

A short, sweet and refreshing record, that leaves nothing to waste, marrying playful ideas with poignant themes. 'Little Electric Chicken Heart' is a future classic and will beguile fans of ‘70s Brazilian recordings, Gal Costa, Mac DeMarco, Stereolab, Superorganism, Caetano Veloso and more.

Celebrating 30 years of Far Out Recordings, Azymuth’s biggest club track from their groundbreaking 1979 album Light As A Feather is reissued on 12” vinyl, in its full length unedited form.

When it was originally released, Azymuth’s disco fusion worldwide hit “Jazz Carnival” stayed in the UK top twenty for eight straight weeks. It was used as the theme music for national broadcasts in Italy and even made it onto Top Of The Pops in the UK. Since then the track has become a mainstay for disco, house, and eclectic DJs like Kerri Chandler, Floating Points, Four Tet, Mr Scruff, Gilles Peterson, Dan Snaith and Danilo Plessow.

First released in 2012, the 10 minute, original full length unedited mix of Jazz Carnival sold out immediately and has become Azymuth’s most in demand dance weapon to date. On the B side, Ashley Beedle and Yam Who? teamed up to rework Azymuth’s 1979 proto house classic for the 21st century, which made the record even more sought after still.

The vinyl DJs have been nagging us to bring this 12” back for over a decade. So for our 30th anniversary, we thought we’d finally do it!

The 12” vinyl of Jazz Carnival (Original Full Length Unedited Mix) will be available as a limited Record Store Day 2024 vinyl release via Far Out Recordings.

Limited Clear Vinyl edition, 500 copies! "Bossa Nova Soul Samba" came as Ike Quebec's best contribution to the fruitful marriage between Jazz and Brazilian music. Recorded in 1962 and released on Blue Note in the same year. this was Quebec's final recording before his death in January 1963. A beautiful studio session dominated by Quebec's tenor sax warm tone and the light and gentle groove provided by Kenny Burrell - guitar, Wendell Marshall - bass, Willie Bobo - drums and Garvin Masseaux - chekere.

This mega-rare 1969 album pays tribute to the Bronx and Brooklyn neighborhoods where young Latinos had invented the boogaloo a few years earlier. This record highlights the quality of Peruvian boogaloo and the talent of musicians such as pianist Otto de Rojas and percussionist Coco Lagos.First time reissue.In the mid-sixties, when young Latino musicians in New York fused Afro-Cuban rhythms with rock, soul and jazz, they had no idea that their boogaloo bang bang would reverberate just as strong and loud in a distant South American country.From 1955, La Sonora Macedo, took Cuban music to every corner of Peru, backed the leading musicians of the Peruvian tropical universe, such as Ñiko Estrada, Joe di Roma, the double bass player Pepe Hernández, and the trumpet players Tito Chicoma and Charlie Palomares. All diehard fans of Cuban music, always alert to any new artist arriving from the island.In the early sixties, light rock, doo-wop, ballads, Italian songs and bossa nova paraded across Lima's stages, making performances by Cuban bands, previously so frequent, a thing of the past. Moreover, the unanimous success of the Beatles from 1964 onwards, gave the impression that music from the English-speaking world would dominate the rest of the decade.But this was not the case. In large part because of Manuel Guerrero's good relations with U.S Latino labels, such as Alegre Records, which released the initial recordings by Johnny Pacheco and Charlie Palmieri, allowing listeners in Lima to follow the development of the salsa movement almost from the beginning.MAG was undoubtedly the best representative of these new sounds. In 1969, the LP "Acabo con Lima, huyo pa' Nueva York" was released on this label, a project which brought together three figures from Lima's show business world: Manuel Antonio Guerrero, owner and founder of MAG, who wasn't shy of joining in on the chorus and percussion during recordings, Pablo Villanueva "Melcochita", a multifaceted artist from a talented musical family...

With some of the best DJs and selectors there is a certain mysterious sound or underlying feeling which unites the music they play, regardless of genre, year or tempo. Luke Una is a master of telling a story through music and this compilation is a perfect example of his musical alchemy in action. Featuring tracks from Yusef Lateef, Airto Moreira, Crooked Man, Henri Texier and many more, it is a collection of new, old, rare and under-discovered music from around the world, all united by Luke under the banner of “E-Soul Cultura”.

It’s best described by Luke himself, who writes: “As the 5AM city sleeps and the strobe lights are slowly turned off, we gather on the wrong side of town in a transcendental journey alone together. We are the late night disenfranchised holding on in various after parties, flats, lofts, random kitchens and basements into the outer cosmos with É Soul Cultura. Music from exotic tear jerkers, Afro-spiritual jazz, cosmic Brazilian celestial grooves, machine street soul, dark horses, lost B-sides, £1 bargain-bin bombs, hidden gems, late night Italo dubbing, deep velvet N.Y.C garage, bass buggin sonic futurism, wrong speed 33bpm pitched up +8 new beat, majestic sunset strings, sweet vocals from heaven, no half steppin jazz dancing in outer-space and odd numbers. Yes… magical moments, together, holding on in witness protection suburban cul-de-sacs and Castle Court flats. Cosmic É high, 3000ft above the city getting evangelical to murky, wonky timeless beautiful music. This thing of ours dreaming of better days. Fail we may, sail we must, the sun will come up again.”

Beginning his career as an original Sheffield house young blood in the mid 1980s, Luke’s move to Manchester and partnership with Justin Crawford saw the birth of Electric Chair, a cornerstone cult night in the UK underground club scene, and later Electric Elephant, a Croatian festival paying homage to their wild eclecticism from Balearic to Brazilian to E soul, house, disco and techno. Luke’s much loved, long running Homoelectric night and more recently Homobloc sell out festival for 10,000 souls has been at the forefront of Manchester’s Lgbtq cultural landscape.

Luke’s Friday evening show on Worldwide FM has captured imaginations and has already become a cult four hour must-listen monthly journey with fans all over the world. Today Luke remains, as ever, at the forefront of a changing scene, pairing the momentous legacy of Manchester’s 80s and 90s scene with the delivery of what today’s club communities need to get down.

With some of the best DJs and selectors there is a certain mysterious sound or underlying feeling which unites the music they play, regardless of genre, year or tempo. Luke Una is a master of telling a story through music and this compilation is a perfect example of his musical alchemy in action. Featuring tracks from Yusef Lateef, Airto Moreira, Crooked Man, Henri Texier and many more, it is a collection of new, old, rare and under-discovered music from around the world, all united by Luke under the banner of “E-Soul Cultura”.

It’s best described by Luke himself, who writes: “As the 5AM city sleeps and the strobe lights are slowly turned off, we gather on the wrong side of town in a transcendental journey alone together. We are the late night disenfranchised holding on in various after parties, flats, lofts, random kitchens and basements into the outer cosmos with É Soul Cultura. Music from exotic tear jerkers, Afro-spiritual jazz, cosmic Brazilian celestial grooves, machine street soul, dark horses, lost B-sides, £1 bargain-bin bombs, hidden gems, late night Italo dubbing, deep velvet N.Y.C garage, bass buggin sonic futurism, wrong speed 33bpm pitched up +8 new beat, majestic sunset strings, sweet vocals from heaven, no half steppin jazz dancing in outer-space and odd numbers. Yes… magical moments, together, holding on in witness protection suburban cul-de-sacs and Castle Court flats. Cosmic É high, 3000ft above the city getting evangelical to murky, wonky timeless beautiful music. This thing of ours dreaming of better days. Fail we may, sail we must, the sun will come up again.”

Beginning his career as an original Sheffield house young blood in the mid 1980s, Luke’s move to Manchester and partnership with Justin Crawford saw the birth of Electric Chair, a cornerstone cult night in the UK underground club scene, and later Electric Elephant, a Croatian festival paying homage to their wild eclecticism from Balearic to Brazilian to E soul, house, disco and techno. Luke’s much loved, long running Homoelectric night and more recently Homobloc sell out festival for 10,000 souls has been at the forefront of Manchester’s Lgbtq cultural landscape.

Luke’s Friday evening show on Worldwide FM has captured imaginations and has already become a cult four hour must-listen monthly journey with fans all over the world. Today Luke remains, as ever, at the forefront of a changing scene, pairing the momentous legacy of Manchester’s 80s and 90s scene with the delivery of what today’s club communities need to get down.

Di Melo's Debut Album Was Originally Released In 1975 And It's A Fusion Of Genuinely Brazilian Rhythms With Funk, Soul And The Right Amount Of Psychedelia. Di Melo Is One Of The Main Brazilian Soul Music Artists, Seen By Many As Talented And Musically Creative As His Peers Jorge Ben And Tim Maia.Di Melo Went Missing In Action From 1976 To 1997, The Year His Song "A Vida Em Seus Métodos Diz Calma" Was On The Collection "Blue Brazil" From Blue Note Record Label. The Word On The Streets Was That He Was Dead Until 2011, When The Documentary Called "Di Melo, O Imorrível" (Di Melo, The Immortal) Was Released. In This 2021 Edition The Album Contains The Original 1975 Insert With Lyrics Plus Photos From Personal Family Archives And For The First Time The Full Credits With All The Name Of Every Single Musician Who Took Part, Among Them, Hermeto Pascoal.The Young Man Of 25 Coming From The Outskirts Of Pernambuco Was At The Peak Of His Success. Psychedelic Drugs And Cinema References Were Blowing His Mind Away When He Realised That He Was Being Conned By Music Industry Rats. His Songs Were At The Hit Parade On The Radio And His Music Had Been Recorded By Some Of The Biggest Names In Brazil, But What He Was Being Paid For Made No Justice To That. People Say That After Watching The Movie "Blow Up" By Antonioni, Di Melo Himself Beat The S*** Out Of The Publisher Who Paid Him Less Than 10 Dollars For His Rights For The Past Three Months.Such Events, Ran By The Same Strong Personality That Initially Opened Doors, Made Di Melo Ostracized By The Ungrateful Brazilian Music Industry. Perhaps That's What It Took To Make Such A Mythical Album.

The time has come again: Another edition of the much-loved and highly praised by critics from all around the globe compilation «Paz E Futebol» will be released on Sonar Kollektiv. After 2006 and 2016 this is already the third sequel of this terrific series of light-footed Brazilian gems and other rarities transporting the Brazilian feel for the ball musically.

Two times Jazzanova took care of the collection, now Junior Santos is responsible for digging up the tunes. The Brazilian drummer and producer is a true expert when it comes to Brazilian music. He already caught the attention of Jazzanova’s Jürgen von Knoblauch with the 2014 released compilation «Brazilian Disco Boogie Sounds (1978-1982)» on Favorite Recordings. Together the two diggers selected eight songs that fit simply perfectly. Due to licensing reasons, the digital compilation features 2 additional songs. Chico de Abreu and an unreleased track by Beto Luiz called "Uma Canção Que Fale” chosen by Juergen von Knoblauch.. Although the contributions originate from three different decades (1979 - 1992) they all have the discoid and boogiesque vibe in common mainly to come alive in productions from Maranhão, Rio and Bahia.

The release is accompanied by extensive liner notes by Junior Santos (in Portuguese and English). Just now in the colder and greyer season this compilation is great fun and radiates so much joy like only Brazilian music can.

The city of Belém, in the Northern state of Pará in Brazil, has long been a hotbed of culture and musical innovation. Enveloped by the mystical wonder of the Amazonian forest and overlooking the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, Belém consists of a diverse culture as vibrant and broad as the Amazon itself. Amerindians, Europeans, Africans - and the myriad combinations between these people - would mingle, and ingeniously pioneer musical genres such as Carimbó, Samba-De-Cacete, Siriá, Bois-Bumbás and bambiá. Although left in the margins of history, these exotic and mysteriously different sounds would thrive in a parallel universe of their own.

I didn’t even know of the existence of that universe until an Australian DJ and producer by the name of Carlo Xavier dragged me deep into this whole new musical world. Ant it all began in Belém do Pará. Perched on a peninsula between the Bay of Guajará and the Guamá river, sculpted by water into ports, small deltas and peripheral areas, Belém had connected city dwellers with those deeper within the forest providing fertile ground for the development of a popular culture mirroring the mighty waters surrounding it. Through the continuous flow of culture, language and tradition, various rhythms were gathered here and transformed into new musical forms that were simultaneously traditional and modern.

Historically marginalized African religions like Umbanda, Candomblé and the Tambor de Mina, which had reached this side of the Atlantic through slaves from West Africa – especially from the Kingdom of Dahomey, currently the Republic of Benin – left an indelible stamp on the identity of Pará´s music. They would give birth to Lundun, Banguê and Carimbó, styles later modernised by Verequete, Orlando Pereira, Mestre Cupijó and Pinduca to great effect. The success of these pioneers would create a solid foundation for a myriad of modern bands in urban areas.

Known as the “Caribbean Port,” Belem had been receiving signal from radio stations from Colombia, Surinam, Guyana and the Caribbean islands - notably Cuba and the Dominican republic - since the 1940s. By the early 1960s, Disc jockeys breathlessly exchanged Caribbean records to add these frenetic, island sounds to liven up revelers. The competition was fierce as to who would be the first to bring unheard hits from these countries. The craze eventually reached local bands’ repertoires, and Belém’s suburbs got overtaken by merengue, leading to the creation of modern sounds such as Lambada and Guitarrada.

To reach a larger audience, the music needed to be broadcast. Radios began targeting the taste of mainstream audiences and played music known as “music for masses.” As the demand for this music grew, it led to the establishment of recording companies. Belém’s infant recording industry began when Rauland Belém Som Ltd was founded in the 1970s. It boosted a radio station, a recording studio, a music label and had a deep roster of popular artists across the carimbó, siriá, bolero and Brega genres.

Another important aspect in understanding how the musical tradition spread in Belém, are the aparelhagem sonora: the sound system culture of Pará. Beginning as simple gramophones connected to loudspeakers tied to light posts or trees, these sound systems livened up neighbourhood parties and family gatherings. The equipment evolved from amateur models into sophisticated versions, perfected over time through the wisdom of handymen. Today’s aparelhagens draw immense crowds, packing clubs with thousands of revelers in Belém’s peripheral neighbourhoods or inland towns in Pará.

The history of "Jambú e Os Míticos Sons Da Amazônia" is the history of an entire city in its full glory. With bustling night clubs providing the best sound systems and erotic live shows, gossip about the whereabouts of legendary bands, singers turned into movie stars, supreme craftiness, and the creativity of a class of musicians that didn’t hesitate to take a gamble, Jambú is an exhilarating, cinematic ride into the beauty and heart of what makes Pará’s little corner of the Amazon tick. The hip swaying, frantic percussion and big band brass of the mixture of carimbó with siriá, the mystical melodies of Amazonian drums, the hypnotizing cadence of the choirs, and the deep, musical reverence to Afro-Brazilian religions, provided the soundtrack for sweltering nights in the city’s club district.

The music and tales found in Jambú are stories of resilience, triumph against all odds, and, most importantly, of a city in the borders of the Amazon who has always known how to throw a damn good party.

“Jambú is a plant widely used in Amazonian and Paraense cuisine. Known for having an appetitestimulating effect, it is added to various dishes and salads but is most famously one of the main ingredients in Tucupi and Tacacá, two delicacies that have been immortalized in countless Carimbó songs. Chewing the leaves of the Jambú plant will leave a strong sensation of tingling on the tongue and lips. Indigenous communities have relied upon its anaesthetic qualities for centuries as an effective remedy against toothaches and as a cure for mouth and throat infections. A decade ago, a distillery from Belém discovered the euphoric effects of the Jambú plant when combined with distilled sugarcane based spirit - known as cachaça - and created the now legendary “Cachaça de Jambú“.

Since 2019 the collective of Parisian partygoers, Pardonnez-Nous, have decided to launch their own label. Just like their parties, their goal is to shine a light on dancing music.
Constantly looking for new tracks to enlighten the dancefloors, their outings are in line with the vision of deejaying defended by its founders. Finding forgotten pieces that are the geneses of dance music and mixing them with more contemporary sounds. Re-editions, edits, remixes or original productions the label doesn’t just stick to one style but aspires to represent all the music of partying!
For its 1st release, the label strike hard and unearthed a quite surprising hidden track by one of the most famous band from the French Islands.
La Compagnie Créole: born in 1975, this mythical band known by all the francophones will be remembered by future generations, thanks to all those super hits spread over the course of 23 albums, mixing music from the Antilles, Guyane and popular tunes from the French metropole.
Amongst all those classics, making people dance in all the French ballrooms, one stands out: A.I.É, written by Daniel Vangarde in 1987, his Creole lyrics and melodies have won over the entire francophone diaspora, as well as the rest of Europe and North America.
From then on, in 1988, a NY DJ, known by the name of Larry Levan, produced a remix of this track for the soundtrack of the film Sweet Lies. A mix not released, which remained relatively unknown up to this point. “Pardonnez-Nous” (Excuse us), but here it is.

Here it comes the first tropical Uluru! The A side sees an instant classic from uprising french producer Yeahman! Produced in 2016, this jewel sees the light for the first time on a 7” and featured some “badman” lyrics on a crispy cumbia beat. On the b side we welcome to the label Austrian trio Restless Leg Syndrome with a classic cumbia re-work called Hornrace. Pull up guaranteed! Pressed on high quality black and turquoise vinyl (38 gr.) Edition of 500, coming with “hand stamped” paper sleeves.

Imagine a Latin remake of Back to the Future. The mad scientist is Arsenio Rodriguez (the godfather of salsa) and the young student who travels through time with him is Eblis Alvarez (Meridian Brothers). This album can only be described as the perfect soundtrack for that movie that never was.

After the massive buzz generated by his first solo album, Mentallogenic, Alex Figueira got back in the studio to work in a more collective fashion this time, carefully assembling the second album of his largest project to date, Conjunto Papa Upa; a team of 6 musicians, spanning 3 generations of some of the best talent in the Latin and avant-garde scenes.

In an era where tropical music is dominated by purely electronic and rhythmically uniform sounds, the ten songs encompassed in “Fruta Madura” (“Ripe Fruit”) wander through the most diverse tempos, rhythms, and motifs effortlessly. A real breath of fresh air that gracefully incorporates soul, funk, jazz, psychedelia, and electronics into a solid tropical, irresistibly polyrhythmic foundation, without ever succumbing to the many genre clichés.

The distinctive production and catchy songwriting of Figueira shine in a very distinctive light on this second full-length. Living up to his reputation (Miles Cleret, founder of Soundway Records, called him “one of the scene's truly authentic and eccentric producers”), he takes the opportunity to show he’s not afraid to keep walking his own path.

Taking the band for a wild ride through the traditions of Africa, America, and the Caribbean; contrasting them with a ridiculously wide plethora of vintage, contemporary, and futuristic sounds, and pivoting on the exuberant musicality displayed by his musicians; the result leaves no doubt: this album is destined to be considered a future classic of the exciting tropical psychedelic music of the 21st century.

Addressing the most diverse themes in this new collection of songs, things take on a much more mature tone, as the title clearly suggests.

The opening track “El segundo es más sabroso” (“The second one is tastier”) sets the tone in the most assertive way imaginable, with the band boldly declaring, through multiple metaphorical references (laid upon a crazy mix of Dominican merengue, Detroit techno, classic and free jazz, dub, and electro), that the bar will be set higher with this second album.

The remaining compositions touch upon the most diverse subjects, with a fair dose of humor, sarcasm, and postmodern “magic realism”. “El Algoritmo” (The Algorithm) is a parranda-cumbia hybrid (for lack of a specific term) about the omnipresence of technology in our lives. The sophisticated Latin soul of the titling track “Fruta Madura” makes a case for the beauty of the maturity process. Some key philosophical teachings of Marcus Aurelius (the role of causality, the impositions of “the logos” and the importance of self-control) get a twisted cumbia treatment on “Reos del Deseo” (Prisoners of Desire). “No le pongas Coca-Cola” (“Don’t put Coca Cola in it”) shows us the most satirical side of the band, accusing those who mix Coca Cola with Rum of committing "sacrilege", on a powerful base of Dem Bow (the grandfather of Reggaeton), intertwined with touches of soul, salsa, and Cuban comparsa.

"Háblame Claro" (“Talk to me clearly”) is a story of heartbreak that evokes in its first part the spirit of the erotic salsa of the 80s (a subgenre deeply despised by purists), and after an unexpected samba interlude, leads to the hardest salsa of the 70s (a subgenre adored by purists), to end up in the surprising form of pure Afro-Cuban ceremonial music.

“Tu mamá tenía razón” ("Your Mom Was Right") is an attempt to exalt the spirit of the Latin American soap opera in the key of “acid bachata”, to recount a real-life case, witnessed by the band on countless occasions: the partying woman who arrives at the show accompanied by her bitter husband, who obviously does not like to dance. A very cheeky song to talk about the very serious and pertinent topic of female empowerment.

“La misma vaina” (“The same thing”) with its indescribable blend of bantú, candomblé, and Mozambique rhythms with abstract synthesizers, is an ode to adventure in favor of the aversion to taking risks and seeking predictability.

“Amigas picadas” (“Salty friends”) is another humorous song recounting another real-life case witnessed by the band on countless occasions: a love encounter sabotaged by the girlfriend's friends, who all happen to fancy the same guy. A jazzy take on the ancient Dominican rhythm of pambiche (grandfather of merengue), with generous psychedelic touches, resembling the classy late 60s releases of Guadeloupe's legendary producer / label owner Henri Debs.

“Vinimos a hablar” (“We came to talk”) takes sarcasm to the highest level, to ridicule the absurdity (also experienced by the band firsthand) seen in live music venues where people pay a ticket to go and have conversations that could be carried out much better on any bar, where no band is playing. The music alternates between a delicate melody with loose, sparse percussion and a full-on, pumping Angolan semba, with a techno kick drum included; bringing things to an apotheotic grooving finale, where the peculiar swing of Venezuelan calypso from the Callao region is thrown on top of all the precedent elements; closing the album in the most uplifting, “end of the carnival parade” feel.

The artwork is a delicate and impactful oil painting by Colombian artist Kevin Simón Mancera, who has collaborated many times with the label before (“Maracas, tambourines and other hellish things” tape and the Lola’s Dice LP).

What the experts are saying:

“Alex (Figueira) dove into this work with a brutal cohesion between lyrics and synths. Timbre poetry, sound poetry (you name it). And that, superimposed on his always impeccable percussive base, confirms the title of “avant-garde visionary of our beautiful Latin music”". Eblis Alvarez (meridian Brothers) “Papa Upa's infectious quirkiness is a balm against boredom. A mature album, but without an expiration date”. Gladys Palmera

“Here there is a lot of strength, drum, cadence and psychedelia, lost dance rhythms, united in an intercontinental Latin/African/and Caribbean journey, a unique winning combination that we could consider the new “Ritmo Figueira”. Discodelic

Schema Records presents “Riviera”, the new album by Toco, one of the Milan-based label’s top artists with over 100 million digital streams, is finally released on 19 April 2024. “Riviera” pays tribute to the places where Toco grew up, and is the aesthetic synthesis of Toco’s varied songwriting, able to create true musical mosaics that mix pop lightness, poetic lyricism, desire, joy and pain. Mainly inspired by the tradition of samba and bossa nova, and contaminated with jazz, funk, pop and rock, the album alternates light and shadow in a balanced chiaroscuro enriched by friend and musical partner Stefano “S-Tone Inc.” Tirone’s production.

Anticipated by a series of singles that outlined its various facets and musical influences, Toco’s new album “Riviera” is finally released on 19 April 2024; ten years have passed since “Memoria”, filled with various collaborations and dedicated to this record itself, carefully curated in production and arrangements down to the smallest detail; this has been made possible thanks also to the presence of a large lineup of guests, including Toco’s labelmate Gianluca Petrella for the first time ever. The album’s title is a tribute to two places very dear to Toco: Riviera is the neighborhood in São Paulo where he spent his childhood, while Riviera Ligure is where he lived for a long time in Italy: two opposite shores and cultures that turned out to be fundamental in the artist’s formation. “Riviera” is the aesthetic synthesis of Toco’s varied songwriting, able to create true musical mosaics that mix pop lightness, poetic lyricism, desire, joy and pain. Mainly inspired by the tradition of samba and bossa nova, and contaminated with jazz, funk, pop and rock, the al¬bum alternates light and shadow in a balanced chiaroscuro enriched by friend and musical partner Stefano “S-Tone Inc.” Tirone’s production. This collaboration further consolidates the duo’s fellowship that brush¬es magical sonorities on the different themes delivered. An excellent comeback!

Bruno Berle, the young songwriter and poet originally hailing from Maceió, the capital of Brazil’s Alagoas state, crafts songs that are simple, direct, and full of tender nuance. With his first album No Reino Dos Afetos (which translates to "In the Realm of Affections” and was released in 2022), Berle firmly established himself as a unique and important voice in the burgeoning scene of new Brazilian artists making a global impact, including peers like Ana Frango Elétrico, Tim Bernardes, Bala Desejo, Sessa and more. Now back with his second album, No Reino Dos Afetos 2, he stretches that further.

Bruno Berle’s music lives between two worlds – a traditional Brazilian folk talent steeped in history, and a contemporary, dreamy electronic pop; the result is songwriting that’s genre-bending, intentional, iconoclastic and consuming, spacious and sinewy and singular, a striking reflection of its composer while leaving space for the listener to settle in. The album follows Bruno’s relocation to São Paulo, and the songs are a reflection of his past and present. A rebuke of former categorizations of his work in Brazilian music scenes, and an idea of where his music can move, unfettered.

Berle’s music is purposeful in being a true portrait of himself, and a reflection of the music, art, and fashion scenes he personally moves through. Berle aims to provide an entrypoint for Black queer joy in his music, in his storytelling, in his presence and vision as a creative. For him, it feels subversive to be playing MPB laced with dubstep and lo-fi, a sort of intentional sacrilege, capturing a dialogue of modernity in traditional music.

Berle wrote most of the arrangements and co-produced his new album, Reino Dos Afetos 2 with longtime friend and musical partner Batata Boy, who is also from Maceió; the album was recorded in Rio de Janeiro, Maceió, and São Paulo, his new home, and picks up the conversation begun in 2022 on Berle’s debut album No Reino dos Afetos. Both records are the result of a nonlinear but coherent seven-year music creation process culminating in these albums, holding hands across space and time.

“Tirolirole,” the first single from the record, was released at the end of 2023; sun-soaked rhythms and soft voice coat the song, the lilting refrain of “Tirolirole” throughout – hushed, gentle, but somehow almost tactile, a golden-hour moment unlocked in the mind. “Tirolirole” is a triumphant future classic about the temporality of a blossoming love, with Bruno’s stunning vocal soaring over melodies which ebb and flow like the waters on the Atlantic shore. Of the track, Berle explains: “Despite ‘Tirolirole’ being an expression that evokes my childhood, just like the light words about nature, the harmony, and the poetry are epic, carrying a great hope for love.”

In fact, the guiding theme of No Reino dos Afetos 2 is a relationship, unfolding in the arc of a weekend. It traverses the innocence of an early young love, how that can be formative, can stretch on to take new shapes, or shape you. The album happens at the genesis of meeting someone and falling for them, before the relationship is thrown into overdrive – set in a big city, against a backdrop of major life changes, rising energy, the sound of São Paulo.

Something transcendental emerges in “Dizer Adeus,” with an arrangement that echoes a gospel atmosphere (evangelical and Catholic environments were pivotal to Berle’s upbringing). On “É Só Você Chegar,” piano and flute gracefully intertwine, a dance, while “Quando Penso” skews sparser, the voice-and-guitar minimalism somehow cultivating an entirely different shape – somehow both cozy and melancholy, with the background sound of a rainy day. Coupled with the lo-fi aspects that shape much of the album’s personality in the vocals and the production, No Reino Dos Afetos 2 is meticulously elaborated by Berle’s sonic alchemy, like on the mid-album instrumental “Sonho,” which feels like floating. “It’s the apex. It’s when lovers are sleeping together,” Berle explains of the feeling he wanted to encapsulate in the song.

On “Love Comes Back” Berle interprets Arthur Russell, the late Iowa musician who only reached greater visibility after he died in 1992. “His way of making music is similar to mine,” Berle explains. “He sings in a more fragile way, has more of an experimental way of recording, letting ‘chance’ appear in the final work.”

Even so, Berle doesn’t want his music to be buried in sentimentality – and the purposefulness of his craft serves as a sort of north star. The production, the arrangements, his restraint and intentionality in crafting his songs feel just as vital as their emotional cores. His songwriting is amorphous, fluid, an encompassing genre-bending movement in-and-of-itself, quietly daring. The songs are often in conversation with other works – drinking in fountains as diverse as the filmmaking of Ingmar Bergman, the poetry of Walt Whitman, the rhythm of Djavan, and the painting of Maxwell Alexandre. Musically he weaves together a rich tapestry of Brazilian folk, UK 2-step garage/dub, trip hop and sun soaked west coast songwriters; something akin to the worlds of Milton Nascimento, Arthur Russell, James Blake, Feist, and Sade colliding into one. But even then No Reino Dos Afetos 2 floats separately, a romanticism driven by a simplicity and intimacy, an open-ended possibility, Berle’s singularity as an artist at the helm of the ship.

For the third release in our Mr Bongo Cuban Classics series, we reissue the iconic 1974 debut album by the mighty Grupo Irakere. Led by Chucho Valdés, son of Cuban pianist and bandleader Bebo Valdés, the band would go on to become of the most influential and successful groups emanating from Cuba in this period. Their debut ‘Teatro Amadeo Roldan Recital’ is an in-demand and incredible Afro-Cuban, jazz-funk masterpiece originally landing on Cuba’s state-owned imprint, Areito.

One of the jewels of the album is the beast of an opener, 'Bacalao Con Pan’. A heavy dancefloor Latin-funk burner, with ripping Wah-Wah guitar, a blistering mix of Latin percussive elements and horns firing on all cylinders. It’s a song which builds and breaks with an energy and power that still lights up the dance to this very day.

The album is a varied bag of tricks, traversing moods, styles and genres whilst melding traditional rhythms with more contemporary mindsets. Take the delectable downtempo ballad ‘Danza Nañiga’ or ‘Valle Picadura’ that starts on a similar tip, before erupting into a horn heavy heater. Move through to find ‘Taka Taka Ta’ where Afro-Cuban jazz, call and response vocals and brain-busting organs marry in steamy unison.

Elsewhere, continuing this melting pot of musical influences, the prog/psychedelic rock leaning 'Quindiambo', expertly combines traditional Latin music with psych rock in a similar way to Santana. 'Misaluba' is another highlight, a cover version of a song by the British-Italian based group Cyan, written by Mario & Giosy Capuano, making it their own with this tripped-out, percussion-rich makeover.

As debuts go, Grupo Irakere’s ‘Teatro Amadeo Roldan Recital' is about as good as it gets and gives a snapshot of Cuba in the mid ‘70s, with a band that were destined for big things.

Pellegrino & Zodyaco, with their new single 'Malìa', continue the aesthetic and sonic journey of the project led by the Neapolitan producer, with a mixture of Neapolitan disco-funk and fusion steeped in Latin flavour that already explored the innermost corners of the soul with 'Quimere'. This new work captures the frenzy and vibrant character of Naples, with its rarefied atmospheres and infectious groove that evoke the beating heart of the city and take us on a journey through the wonder of life in search of the Mediterranean essence. The 'Malìa' is enchanting, it’s that mysterious force that hides deep inside, transforming itself into a vortex of emotions through the fusion of involving rhythms and reflections on inner battles, on the importance of finding the 'light' to overcome conflicts and difficulties that hinder the ability to choose, a dreamlike mirage that opens a window on human vulnerability, a hymn to authenticity, to self-acceptance.

The celebration of dance in the Caribbean Escapade version is also an exhortation to escape from everyday life; it takes us into a sonic imagery that plays with the Neapolitan musical tradition and the freshness of Caribbean and Latin sounds. This summer single becomes an ode to the vital energy of dance music: there is no more time for hesitation, one must let oneself be carried away by the enthralling embrace of 'Malìa', like a call to awareness and the search for authenticity in life. Malìa becomes the guiding thread, the mystery that urges us to go beyond the confines of everyday life, to explore and celebrate the complexity of existence.

Fans of Coltrane will certainly dig this historical 1970s spiritual jazz album from Argentina which left an everlasting imprint in the local jazz scene. From the eerie “Blues para un cosmonauta” —which could easily fit in the Twin Peaks soundtrack—, to the majestic “Líneas Torcidas” or the mid-tempo groove of “Mi amigo Tarzán”, new landscapes in jazz are explored without hiding, at moments, the musicians’ bebop pedigree. Venturing into uncharted dimensions, the album breaks with traditionalism and combines jazz and new electronic instruments into a contemporary concept that is both cosmic and sensual, a sound where timbre and space play a crucial role. Here, no track sounds like the other. The charismatic, multifaceted saxophone player Horacio “Chivo” Borraro is joined here most notably by Fernando Gelbard —who pioneered electronic keyboards and analog synths in Argentina, playing here Fender Rhodes and Minimoog— and Brazilian musician Stenio Mendes —who plays the 12-string craviola and contributes two tracks. Jorge González on bass and Néstor Astarita on drums —both part of Gato Barbieri‘s rhythm section in the early 60s— and Chino Rossi —responsible for much of the unusual percussion and special effects that give the album its unprejudiced aura— complete the line-up of Blues para un Cosmonauta.

Pique is the sensational debut solo album from Dora Morelenbaum, one of the key talents spearheading Brazil’s new musical wave. A member of the Latin Grammy award-winning band, Bala Desejo, Dora showcases a new side to her solo productions on this special LP. Whereas Dora’s first solo EP, Vento de Beirada, was a leap of faith, Pique sees her soaring as one of Brazil’s standout stars, emboldened, emphatic but ever elegant. Building bridges between past and present, it’s a funkier, more groove-based affair, weaved together with those signature, slower, celestial tracks. Touching on disco, MPB, soul, R&B and jazz, the album is enriched with an indie pop aesthetic courtesy of fellow Brazilian star and co-producer, Ana Frango Elétrico.

With an ethereal, enveloping air few can match, Dora’s gift shines through both the serene and the spirited songs contained within. The blissful, sun-soaked ‘Não Vou Te Esquecer’ opens, before the funk-fuelled, feel-good ‘Venha Comigo’ and ‘Sim, Não.’ give a glimpse of the creativity bursting from the production partnership between Dora and Ana Frango Elétrico. Elsewhere, the album reclines into hazy lean-back realms via ‘A Melhor Saída’ and ‘Petricor’, virtuoso jazz funk in the form of ‘VW Blue’ and radiant MPB through the album’s title track ‘Pique’.

The drumming is tight, fresh and swung, the horns and strings deftly arranged, as funk-driven basslines and strutting guitars mesh with playful production touches that give an added vibrancy to the record. It is an album that exhibits every side of Dora and one she has been involved in from the ground up, from the songwriting, singing, arrangement and production to booking the studio time and sourcing the artwork designer, Maria Cau Levy.

An exchange of musical ideas powers every great scene and Rio’s contemporary landscape is no different - a family of interconnected musicians and friends that collaborate on each other’s productions. Pique is graced by a wealth of these leading Brazilian lights including her Bala Desejo bandmates Lucas Nunes, Julia Mestre and Zé Ibarra, as well as Guilherme Lirio, Alberto Continentino and Tom Veloso to name just a handful. This exchange crosses generations merging tradition with modernity. In a full circle moment, Dora’s parents Paula and Jaques Morelenbaum, who featured in countless recordings from Tom Jobim's Nova Banda and Ryuichi Sakamoto to Gal Costa and Gilberto Gil, join on the album through backing vocals and arrangement.

Pique sees Dora embrace a freedom through fresh forms, showcasing the depth and diversity of her creative artistry. An infinitely listenable release that nods to Brazilian greats like Gal Costa, Banda Black Rio and Lincoln Olivetti, fused with the indie pop edge of Ana’s production. The result is truly unique and sure to be a future Brazilian classic.

Twenty rarities and deep cuts from the early years of Fruko y Sus Tesos on legendary label Discos Fuentes. A collection of powerful Colombian salsa dura for the serious collector, DJ and dancer, but also enjoyable for those just discovering Fruko for the first time.2LP including an insert with photos and liner notes by DJ Bongohead (of Peace & Rhythm).The two-volume collection FRUKO POWER is not an homage, career overview, greatest hits or 'best of' collection showcasing the evolution of Fruko (Julio Ernesto Estrada Rincón), the Renaissance Man of Colombian tropical music. Instead, this compilation series shines a light on a lesser-known side of the bassist and band leader's work during the early 1970s with Fruko y Sus Tesos, reissuing in physical form many of his rare or hard to find salsa 45s as well as a few deep album cuts from the first half decade of his career, assembled in chronological order.There are interesting cover versions as well as originals, some of which never appeared on an LP. All of Fruko's classic vocalists are represented, from early collaborators Humberto "Huango" Muriel and Edulfamid "Píper Pimienta" Díaz to golden-era stars Joe Arroyo and Wilson "Saoko" Manyoma.FRUKO POWER is less for the newcomer and more for the serious salsa collector, DJ and dancer who may have a few of the maestro's albums or hits but wants to dig deeper and have all these obscure rarities in one place. However, it also serves as an excellent compendium of powerful Latin dance tracks by Fruko y Sus Tesos that have stood the test of time, so even those who do not know much of his work will be sure to feel the power of Fruko.

It's often a good sign when one of your favorite musicians steps out from beyond the studio walls and past the stage lights to fulfill their own inspired and creative intent. And Caíto Sánchez is not just a favorite musician, but as his lengthy resume as a sideman shows, he's also one of your favorite musicians' favorite musicians, constantly working without fanfare as an essential ingredient in a larger music feast. Sánchez earned his stripes in the 2000s and beyond as a key session player and an integral touring band member, a quiet standout even among many oversized personalities. A dedicated drummer born in Panama and living in New York, Sánchez is quite capable of keeping time for legends like Charles Bradley, Lee Fields, and Brian Jackson, as well as supporting eclectic outfits like the live groups of Quantic, Chico Mann and Midnight Magic. For all the players who have shared a stage or studio with him it comes as no real surprise, and frankly as a long overdue development, that such a unique artistic force is finally stepping into the spotlight.
With this debut single we get a glimpse into Sánchez's creative and artistic personal space, more precisely a multi-instrumental discipline of not only drums, but also bass, guitar and lead voice. It's an intensely intimate recording debut, a fantastic studio concoction born from the heart of its creator, and later fostered and mixed down by the talented hands of Nyct and Daptone veteran Victor Axelrod. The defining result on this initial 7-inch offering are two heavy psychedelic and moody nuggets of rock enespañol, a decidedly new wave of sounds and style that are quite capable of shining on their own.

Elis Regina one of the greatest Brazilian interpreters of all time! Originally released in 1963 when she was not even 20 years old, this was her fourth album and second for Columbia records. Still a few steps before she became a star, here Elis Regina's fresh and extremely ductile voice shines on top of sophisticated Jazz arrangements by Astor Silva and a mixed repertoire based on charming romantic songs and vibrant sambas, all composed by Brazilian authors, among them a couple of highlights such as Baden Powell's "Se Você. Quiser" and "O Ben do Amor" the title track composed by guitarist Rildo Hora. This is an an early and fine statement in Regina's fast way to the peak of Brazilian music history.

Heralded by the “Soul Drum” 12” EP (scep507, 2022), Gerardo Frisina’s new double record “Joyful Sound” represents another step forward on his ongoing travel towards new musical paths. Joyful sounds narrate a journey made of wisely distilled notes, bright and sometimes mysterious atmospheres, harmonies that wander through shadows, silences, and lights. A chameleonic Gerardo enchants with every release, mixing jazz, Latin, Afro-Cuban sounds, oriental fragrances, electronic beats, tribal percussions, funky variations and, to summarize, elegant symphonic arrangements with refined mastery. “Joyful Sound” once again sees the participation of the late Enzo Frassi (double bass), Fabrizio Bernasconi (piano, Rhodes), Gendrickson Mena (trumpet, piano), Alfonso Deidda (sax, flute) and Ernesto Lopez (drums, percussion), with the addition of Piero Perelli on drums and Giovanni Guerretti on piano, Hammond and Rhodes. This new record, carefully orchestrated and produced by Gerardo, required over a year of intense work, however it is worth every second of its 75 minutes of music. As the great Charles Mingus once said, “Play it in the key of your soul”. Without a doubt, Gerardo always gives his soul in full!

Formed in 1980 by guitar prodigy Leonardo Vela Rodriguez, Sonido Verde de Moyobamba created some of the hardest, craziest Cumbia to emerge from the Peruvian jungle. With distorted, surf-addled guitar facing off against lysergic organ and hyperactive tropical rhythms, Sonido Verde conjured the organic sound of the dense forests surrounding their hometown while riding their dance-party grooves to dizzying psychedelic peaks.

Compiled by Analog Africa, Sonido Verde de Moyobamba presents eight ultra-rare tracks of guitar and organ madness drawn from the band’s five albums recorded for Discos Universal between 1981 and 1987. Pressed on Sun Yellow colored vinyl, housed in a screen-printed jacket and strictly limited to 2000 copies, Sonido Verde is a definitive trip into the heart of the jungle.

Considered by many worldwide collectors as one of the best hard-rock albums ever, Rockcelona's "La Bruja" saw the light in 1978 and sank without trace. The band came from Barcelona and could be seen as one of the early Spanish proto-punk bands along with La Banda Trapera Del Rio. Killer sound with primitive English/Spanish vocals and heavy, and I mean Heavy fuzz-wah wah assaults from start to finish!! A must!!!

Having established himself first as a DJ and then as a remixer, Sam Redmore is now very much making himself known as an original producer of quality global grooves that can light up any dancefloor, carnival or party.

After garnering early support for his remixes from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Quantic, Nightmares On Wax, The Nextmen, Lauren Laverne, Danny Krivit and Craig Charles, Sam has built a name for crafting soul-drenched remixes of the classics, with his army of fans eagerly awaiting every new re-work.

Signing to Jalapeno Records for his debut album of original material, Sam has kept the eclectic tastes of all his fans satisfied with a series of very different singles showcasing the wide range of styles he is known for - all picking up rave reviews and a very wide spread of radio support including Radio 1 / 6 Music / Radio 2 / Jazz FM / Worldwide FM in the UK as well as hitting Number 1 most added on US college radio charts (world).

The single Nagu in particular has become a mainstay on daytime 6 Music but each successive release has been finding new fans. From his killer cumbia covers (Tears / Just Be Good To Me) through to the afro-house exuberance of One More Time and leading neatly up to Just Can't Wait, an extremely soulful disco house floorfiller, this is an album with broad appeal both in the UK and overseas.

In the meantime, Sam has been honing his live shows throughout 2022, with festival bookers keen for a piece of the action. Boomtown, Wilderness, Green Man, Kendal Calling and a whole host of others have seen what the punters at Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival saw last summer, when Sam debuted his live show on the main stage of a key festival on the Saturday afternoon. Anyone who was there and saw the audacious 12-piece live ensemble playing their first show knew they were seeing something special.

The newest psychedelic space ranger Cumbia band from Bogotá's infamous DIY scene have been sent to earth to save the party! Los Cotopla Boyz make the walls sweat, they set fire to your feet on the dance floor. It all started in Bogotá, which you might say is the tropicanibal venue par excellence, a place that has brought life to acts like Frente Cumbiero, Los Meridian Brothers, Romperayo, Chúpame el dedo, Dub de Gaita, Los Pirañas, Onda trópica and León Pardo, among other eccentricities that have taken the world and stand out not only for their virtuosity but also the connection that lives between that salvaging of traditional folklore and lysergic futurism that expands hypnotically around the world. From this musical hotbed that emerged in the second decade of the new millennium, there is now a new generation to continue the tropicanibal scene, with groups such as La Sonora Mazurén, La Tromba Bacalao, Los Yoryis, El Conjunto Media Luna and, of course, Los Cotopla Boyz, a five-piece that formed in Bogotá in 2018 but inhabit a post-pandemic dystopian multiverse where their mission is to save the party. So their live performances have that illusion of frantic Power Rangers singing about their adventures, as if these were epic chants, except instead of heroic feats they sing with humor about their everyday lives. Mamarron, Vol. 1 consists of seven millennial cannon shots inspired by Los Mirlos, Los Hechizeros Band, Anan, Wendy Sulca, La Sonora Cordobesa, Bad Bunny, Yandel and Los Corraleros de Majagual.The tracks were laid down on their debut record that saw the light in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic and are now re-released in 2022 by ZZK Records imprint AYA records and being pressed on vinyl. The vinyl album also will include the bonus track "El Peruanito" remixed by Colombian producer Santiago Navas. Los Cotopla Boyz are a sweaty, schizophrenic cumbia experience that has been witnessed by emerging Bogotá clubs like Matik-Matik, Boogaloop, El Chamán, Tejo Turmequé, Videoclub and the festival Herm...

Far from the twin epicenters of New York and Miami, Carlos Ruiz and his Ebirac label were both feeling and generating the aftershocks of the mid-'70s salsa boom. Holed up in their own bustling Puerto Rican community center on Chicago's west side, these third coast salseros plied their trade outside the hot lights, cutting their teeth in city parks, VFW halls, and Holiday Inn rec rooms. Nearly 50 records survive in the wake of orquestas La Justicia, La Solucion, and Tipica Leal '79, the most impassioned, singular moments of which are compiled here.

Classic Brazilian soul funk from 1976 in the same vein as Tim Maia, Jorge Ben or Carlos Dafé's recordings from that period. All four tracks are stunning and feature dramatic vocals, fat drum beats and sophisticated arrangements, following the tradition of the best funk music coming from the States in the '70s. First time reissue.

Tony Bizarro was a Brazilian songwriter, producer and singer who worked with most of the greatest soul and funk artists in Brazil. Boogie and disco music were making headway and soon became popular in the Brazilian market. His own discography comprises just one solo album, released at the peak of his career, a bunch of compactos and some later LPs that did not get any bigger than his best-known hit 'Estou Livre'. This 1976 EP has been a long-time dancefloor weapon for DJs in the same vein as Tim Maia, Jorge Ben or Carlos Dafé's recordings from the same period. All four tracks are stunning! The opening song 'Que Se Faz Da Vida' is a downtempo funk joint with some dramatic vocals by Tony Bizarro, fat drum beats and Isaac-Hayesque wah-wah sounds that could have easily been included in the soundtrack of a blaxploitation movie_ The strings and sophisticated arrangements featured on the flipside elevate this record to the top of the best Brazilian funk ever recorded in the '70s. Very hard to find, especially in good condition, this record now gets a proper reissue for the first time.

“We are inspired by our own experiences, as well as those of others. The last year was the beginning of a new era for all of us and it has left us with much to analyze and the need to rethink our priorities. There’s been so many changes on this planet: the confinement, the constant looking back at the past, the struggle of many against endless injustices, love, all this leads to the fact that our new songs have very current themes but that also transcend time. They continue the characteristic sound of Acid Coco, with the undeniable influence of the Caribbean.” Acid Coco If we can define folklore as the passing on of traditions from a particular group of people, then there can be no denying that Acid Coco, whether consciously or not, are playing an important role in disseminating the folk culture of Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Throughout their music there are links to tradition: the gaita flute typical of rural cumbia, the effervescent guitar licks that are such a big part of the coast’s Afro-diasporic sounds, the teeth-rattling bass indicative of communities brought up on picó sound systems since the 70s, the unmistakable sound of the marimba wooden xylophone (each note like a rain drop on the jungle canopy), and then there are the lyrics. Tradition should not stand still, and in Andrea’s words we find the oral traditions of the last 30 years: on “Hoy Como Siempre” she sings of the need for women to stick up for themselves, to not fall in love too easily; on “Cara Dura” the sentiment is even stronger, its lyrics picking out a male predator on the dance floor who will not be tolerated; and then there’s “Mundo de Mentira” where vulnerability peaks through, the story of a woman whose life has become a “world of lies” since their lover has left – who can she believe now the one she trusted the most has gone? They are stories that could have spilled out of Cali’s salsatecas, Cartagena’s picós or any club the world over, yet through Paulo’s canny production there is no doubt where we are. Dembow, cumbia, reggaeton, even on the spiky Caribbean folk of final track “Por Las Venas” or chiptune melody of “Aquí y Allá”, there is nowhere we can be other than on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. It’s music that comes from lived experiences, from growing up in Colombia’s clubs and through its violence and daily realities. Culture is being passed forward.

After the recent reissue of their first eponymous album, Favorite Recordings proudly presents Vegas, the second LP from Venezuelan band Esperanto. Rare and sought-after for many collectors, it was recorded in between Las Vegas and Caracas and originally released in 1981. Following bandleader Jorge Aguilar in his musical trip to the infamous American city bathing into flashing lights and vivid colors, we're invited to an excursion in Disco, Boogie and Jazz-Funk territories. Finally reissued, fully remastered, Vegas will be available as Gatefold Tip-On Vinyl LP. With great care and attention to details, Esperanto managed to create a very convincing sequel to their JazzFunk debuts. Vegas keeps indeed a perfect balance between various influences. Through energic disco beats with intense funky solos, catchy AOR-influenced songs, where Jorge delivers convincing vocal performance, or sunny jazz-funk slow jams, the album still reveals something quite authentic. And this feeling echoes surely the one that could have been felt by Jorge Aguilar while discovering USA on a trip - where it all started for the music he loves. Like sometimes a foreigner's enriching view on some local specialty, he surely brought with the band all his authenticity and young but vibrant experience while convincing at the same time major labels for distribution. With certain notoriety coming with the release of their first album, Jorge Aguilar and his drummer Pablo Matarazzo planned to go to Los Angeles for a few gigs. But once there, they realized their contact had to leave for Tina Turner's tour in Europe. Before that, he invited them to come along to Las Vegas and eventually meet musicians there. Luckily, the plan worked perfectly: Jorge came back to Los Angeles with a lot of contacts then moved to Boston and NYC before finally coming back to Caracas. He told: "I was so impressed with this trip that I told myself that one day I would return to Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The first tracks I did them in Los Angeles with Kenny More, James Gadson and other session musicians from that city. Later, I took the tracks to Caracas where the musicians of the band recorded overdubs. After that, I returned to Los Angeles to master with Bernie Grundman who was still working in his small studio at A & M records studios in Hollywood. As can be seen in the title of some of the songs like "Hollywood", "Vegas", "Kenny's Place", were only the translation of my experiences at the time."

Jaguar mine the sounds of the Colombian Caribbean and global dance sub cultureson a debut album that veers between psychedelic salsa, taut cumbia-disco and zouk party jams.



Rave culture never hit Colombia in the 90s – an internal civil war and a music industry fixated on blandness and payola made sure of that – but if it had then Jaguar would have been one of its leading lights. On their debut album this Colombian duo excavate the sound of their country’s dance floors, uniting the classy, brassy sounds of cumbia, porro and salsa with the earthier DIY vibrations coming from Afro-Colombian street parties on the coast, melodies and guitar lines learnt from imported African vinyl filtered through drum machines and hand-painted picó sound systems with the bass so high it threatens to knock you over.

The twosome mark out their stall on album opener “Bailalo Tu También” (“You Dance It, Too”), urging all to come and dance on a tune that references champeta (the #1 sound of Afro-Colombian block parties), zouk and calypso, as well as doffing a cap to disco and Brit funk, uniting the underground dance cultures of Colombia, the Caribbean, New York and London in one fell swoop. The cumbia card comes out on “Contra La Corriente” (“Against The Tide”), which with its subtle influences of global bass and minimal post-disco gives this classic rhythm even more thrust. “Ten Presente” (“Keep In Mind”) represents another side step, a salsa orchestra stripped down to just vocals, percussion, killer horn section and raspy charango, with the groove never in doubt.

Yet, if 90s rave culture represented a response to the darkness of the 80s, then something similar is at play here, the image of the Caribbean as a warm, happy and danceable place coming in contrast with the poverty that is the reality for many living there, and this dark underbelly is not ignored by Jaguar. “Is it possible that the people united could become invincible?” they ask on “Guadalupe”, offering a message of hope that one day the inequality, poverty and neglect that is everyday life for many people in Colombia will be diminished by getting behind the same cause. Driven by an 80s-inspired zouk beat, they dream of there one day being a united people with the strength to fight back against the authorities. “¿Será posible, será posible?” they sing, “Could it be possible, could it be possible?” This dichotomy of emotions crops up again on “Siguele El Paso” (“Keep Up”), a pure Caribbean groove that is impossibly infectious with lyrics that speak of keeping those hips moving but can’t help but mention reality, the protagonist of the song dodging bullets and nefarious forces while still keeping their rhythm on the dance floor. It’s a perfect encapsulation of Jaguar’s modus operandi, this is music to make you dance, but it remains grounded, in Colombian and Caribbean musical idioms as well as the hard times that many Colombians are living through. It’s a rhythmic elixir, but with bite; rum straight from the bottle.

Jaguar are two Colombians based in Europe, Paulo and Raúl. Since the 90s their paths crossed, their names mentioned by mutual friends, but it would not be until 2017 that they finally got to know each other. Quickly they established a musical rapport, forming a band with some friends that fell apart just as quickly, but they knew that wasn’t the end, and they continued working on songs, finding their musical language; a path that led them to Madremonte and a sound that imbibes cumbia, salsa, bolero, rock, zouk and champeta, music from across Colombia, from the Caribbean, its Pacific Coast and high into the Andes, all the while transposing these sounds to the dance floor.

Mokomizik Records presents the first-ever reissue of this ultra-rare Latin-Jazz masterpiece. The Fantastic Variety in the Music of Panama - The Winsor Style and Calypso Impressions was privately released in the early 1960s by Panamanian pianist and songwriter Alonso Wilson De Briano.
Alonso described Panama as a country "with a foot in each side", referring to its unique geography that connects North and South America. The blending of Latin and English-speaking cultures had a big influence on Alonso, whose work draws on elements from West-Indian, Afro-Cuban and Panamanian folk musical styles. From the upbeat mambo rhythms of "Amigo" to the unusual combination of Calypso and Tamborera styles used in "My Brother, Too," Alonso weaves a rich musical tapestry into his arrangements. Back in 50s Panama, Alonso enjoyed relative success, with the likes of Orquesta Armando Boza and Tito Contreras performing his songs. So distinctive were his compositions that people had started referring to them by their own style - El stylito Winsor (the Winsor style), a reference to a club that Alonso performed at. Throughout his music career, Alonso worked with a number of renowned musicians, several of whom appear on the record, including Cuban-Jazz pioneer Arsenio Rodríguez's main bassist, Alfonso Joseph; and saxophonist and flutist Gene Jefferson to name a few.
Sadly, not many copies remain of Alonso's music today and the few that have surfaced over the years have naturally demanded high asking prices. This limited reissue aims to shed new light on Alonso's work and make it available for a new generation of listeners to enjoy. Great care has been taken to restore this record, using quality mastering to ensure maximum listening pleasure and retaining the original artwork with lyrics and the song descriptions written at the time. Each record comes with an insert containing restored photos and detailed biography, which features quotes from a rare interview with Alonso from the 1980s along with information gathered from his family and Alfonso Joseph, the only musician we could reach who plays on the record.
Limited to 500 copies. 180g LP with tip-on sleeve.

Recorded between 1985 and 1987, this album brings together the two founders and leading performers of candombe-beat, Ruben Rada and Eduardo Mateo. They hadn´t collaborated in a project since 1969. Both artists had reached their creative prime, with Mateo having released “Cuerpo y Alma” and Rada, “La yapla mata” (which included the classic song ‘Tengo un candombe para Gardel’). 140 gram vinyl with OBI & Insert This initiative sprang from the artists themselves. But when it was time to create, they rarely got together in the studio, preferring to work on their own. Once finished, the album failed to make an impact, since neither of them promoted it. This revival brings that semi-hidden treasure to light. It includes two tracks of the artists strictly performing a duet, the only recordings of Mateo and Rada working alongside each other and no one else. It also contains two additional tracks where you can relish Rada accompanied by Mateo’s guitar and Mateo backed by Rada’s percussion. It includes a track where Mateo commands the instruments (as in Mateo solo bien se lame) and another with Rada’s solo on vocals and percussion. There are instances when Rada’s band of that moment and “super-group” (with Osvaldo Nolé on keyboards, Ricardo Lew on electric guitar, Urbano on the bass and Osvaldo Fattoruso on drums), makes an appearance. Sometimes, Urbano comes forth as lead singer, completing the triad of singers of “El Kinto”. All excellent songs. This album is exceptional and one-of-a-kind, an overflow of talent, musicality, swing, imagination, rhythm, spark, and transcendence. Guilherme de Alencar Pinto

Outro Tempo II: Electronic and Contemporary Music from Brazil, 1984-1996 is the second installment of Music From Memory’s Brazilian series. This volume picks up where the first Outro Tempo left off, shedding light on a new wave of experimentalism that emerged in Brazil in the late 1980s and 1990s. The twenty tracks collected uncover another area of Brazilian music that looked to the future for inspiration. This time it drifts beyond the rainforest and into the pulsating heart of Brazil’s great cities, where it meets a generation of young artists eager to radically change the face of contemporary Brazilian music. In Outro Tempo II the avant garde and pop worlds meld in a haze of percussion and electronics. It presents another uncompromising and magnetic reinterpretation of the limits of Brazilian music. Outro Tempo II is compiled again by John Gómez and features original artwork by Alice Quaresma. The CD version also includes the 2 tracks 'Bruhahá' & 'Eyes' which were released as a separate single on vinyl and were not included in the 2xLP version.

HIGHLIGHTSFirst ever reissue of "Kabwlú", a very hard-to-find album released by Discos Fuentes in 1965.The mysterious Los Picapiedra (which translates as The Flintstones, inspired by the 1960s American cartoonshow), was a short-lived studio group with one albumto their name, "Kabwlú", mixing 'folkloric' and 'modern'elements with calculated 'caveman' humor.It is very musically diverse; not only are there the requisite genres that could be found on similar Colombian teenage-oriented groups' records of the time, such as cumbia, gaita, rock, twist and pachanga, but there is also a smattering of surf, doo-wop, Latin jazz, guajira, ska, and calypso. But what makes the whole thing so special is the odd, off-kilter arrangements, spooky tunings, rudimentary clanging percussion, invented 'cave' language, prominent twanging electric guitar and many zany sound effects.Several of Los Picapiedra's songs became very popular in Colombia as well as Venezuela and especially in the 'rebajada' (slowed down) version as played by the 'sonidero' sound system DJs in Mexico, such as "La Hossa".Presented in its original artwork and pressed on 180g vinyl.Part of Vampisoul's reissue series of classic Fuentes LPs.DESCRIPTIONWhile Discos Fuentes was known for recording all sorts of interesting sounds from traditional folkloric Colombian music to the latest popular international styles, every once and a while they would put out a "novelty" record, perhaps to exploit a passing fad, and at times the label would green-light something strange or even outlandish. Many of those left-field releases have their merits and have subsequently become collectors' items over the years.One such case is the mysterious Los Picapiedra (which translates as The Flintstones, no doubt inspired by the 1960s American sitcom cartoon show), a short-lived studio group with one album to their name, "Kabwlú" (an unpronounceable, invented "caveman" term that is also untranslatable, but seems to have been the 'traditional...

The aptly named Goza La Salsa (Enjoy Salsa) is the second album by Los Afroins, the flagship salsa band of the obscure but beloved INS label (Industria Nacional Del Sonido Ltda., Medellín, Colombia). The combo's repertoire focused mostly on cover versions hit tunes from New York, Cuba and Puerto Rico, both classic and contemporary, but for this record, their sophomore outing from 1975, their arrangements got tighter and there are more original compositions, which makes for a satisfying evolution in both style and content. Pianist Agustín "El Conde" Martínez, who would later work with Joe Arroyo and Juan Piña, led the group and did some arranging, with studio session production by INS artistic director Alfredo "Sabor" Linares. The vocals were handled by a pair of fresh-faced singers, Lucho Puerto Rico and Roy "Tayrona" Betancourt, who would later go on to fame in the 1980s, the former with his own Lucho Puerto Rico Y Su Conjunto Sonero and Conjunto Son Del Barrio (both in collaboration with Alfredo Linares), and the latter with Willie Salcedo, Reales Brass De Colombia, and Los Caribes. Additional arrangements were by Luis Felipe Basto of Los Black Stars and Luis E Mosquera, while the rest of the band was made up of INS related studio musicians. Goza La Salsa is just as hard to find as their first record and contains 10 bright and sassy salsa dura treasures that light up the dance floor with their incessant rhythms, syncopated trumpets and trombone and buoyant melodies. There are smoking covers of hits by Panama's Bush y sus Magníficos ('Salsa Al Pindin') and Bronx timbalero Orlando Marín and His Orchestra ('Está De Bala') as well as updated renditions of old Cuban chestnuts 'La Masacre' (written by Joseíto Fernández of 'Guantanamera' fame, and a hit for Cuarteto Caney) and 'Matusa' (originally titled 'Macusa', composed by Francisco Repilado aka Compay Segundo and made famous by Duo Los Compadres). This time around there are six excellent originals with the hottest pair being Lucho Puerto Rico's theme s...

180g Double LP released on vinyl only. Recorded in 1974 and unreleased until almost thirty years later, the album was written as the soundtrack to a ballet which dealt with the legacy of slavery in Brazil.Raw, atmospheric and emotionally charged, Maria Maria reveals one of Brazil's greatest ever songwriters at his creative peak

Born in 1949 in Recife (Brazil), Roberto De Melo Santos, despite a very light discography, is among the true icons of the Brazilian Soul music under his artist alias, Di Melo. He’s indeed only needed an eponymous album, released in 1975 on Odeon, to assert himself as a star in his native country, but also as a legend for all collectors and connoisseurs of the world. More than 40 years after its release, this famous album sells for several hundred euros in its original version, and even for the few reissues that were offered. Not very active since then, Di Melo however returned in 2016 with the album O Imorrível, released on the Brazilian label Casona Produções.
It is then that a year later, came a meeting with the French group Cotonete, that Florian Pellissier, founding member and keyboard within the band tells us about: “On tour in Brazil with Cotonete, we had a few days off in Sao Paulo and I really hoped to make a collaboration with an important artist or band from the Brazilian funk scene. We had thought of Marcos Valle, Meta Meta or Ed Motta... but Rafaela Prestes our Brazilian "sound ingineer/genious" told me she’d worked with Di Melo for his recent comeback and gave me his number. No sooner said than done, as I'm a huge fan of Di Melo. The next day he arrived at our house with Jo, his wife, and Gabi, his daughter. He takes the guitar in front of us and gives us a private show of 3 hours… we cried the tears of joy. He had 400 original songs never recorded, a gold mine. On the same night, we started working the arrangements for 2 days, followed by a rehearsal and two small gigs in Sao Paulo. Immediately after, we recorded in the magical Epsilon B studio. This album is the summary of this moment, of these 5 days of madness spent together between “the best band in the world” and the legend Roberto Di Melo… Simple, beautiful, Brazilian-French, human music…”
Today, Atemporal found its final version in collaboration with Favorite Recordings and is proudly presented as what we believe will become the genuine long-awaited follow-up to the classic Di Melo’s LP.

Careful, “Let’s not get angry” suggests Spartaco Sax, the famed song accompanying French daily paper FRANCE-SOIR’s campaign against road violence: music isn’t that serious, often times really not. In any case, it is with this not so serious ear that one should listen to this selection of chachacha, mambo and other genres to twist and madison to, as music-lovers pinch their noses and block their ears. And yet, these breezy and light songs under their false airs of effortlessness draw out an astonishing analysis of late 1950s France with its partying baby boomers. Put on your dancing shoes, everyone on the dancefloor, let’s go baby.
The record starts out with an esoteric organ, a guitar straight out of a western, a vibey rhythm section, a speeding saxophone, a glamorous voice, a curious keyboard, a slightly panicky tempo… “Please Mr Hitchock!” calls out a voice from the unknown, on an arrangement that’s about to lose control.
The tone is set. Eins Zwei Drei, cries out Spartaco Andreoli, creator of the Chachacha for tunas, lyrics that are absurd accompanying music that isn’t so much so. And this is just the beginning. I can already see those making fun of it, and yes, I admit it does sound a bit comically-tragic, but more often than not, a persistent riff or melody will get stuck in your head, a chorus that you’ll start unintentionally humming, your foot that starts beating unbeknownst to you. “C’est bon ça dis donc !” (This is pretty good), suggest the Los Goragueros, at the start of their Mambo Miam Miam (Yum Yum). A smooth sax, a double bass that sways and shattering percussions, this song anonymously written by Alain Goraguer (there is often an “os” (bone), added to the band name for a little authenticity, i.e Los Chiquitos and Los Albinos) is actually quite tasty. This arranger and pianist who went on to write the indispensable Planète Sauvage (Wild Planet) is not the only one to have advanced half-masked in these tropical times. Just as Michel Legrand devoted himself to rock music, for better or worst.
Tropical music and France go way back. Indeed, this tropism for exotic music, not without the mannerisms that go with it, has been around. Just think of the period between both world wars, when the Paris of the roaring twenties fluttered to the sound of Latin-American orchestras. The influential Brazilian musician Pixinguinha came through in 1922, the charismatic Cuban singer Rita Montaner triumphed a few years later at the famed Palace and the brilliant clarinettist Stellio from Martinique had everyone dancing through the night to the beguine (a dance style from Martinique)… Seedy cabarets and fishy clubs mixing up different peoples and music until the early hours. From Montparnasse to Montmartre, dancing clubs bloomed throughout the capital while the World Exhibition sold a rather uncertain idea of the other tropics: a discounted and fantasized exotic dream of island life. It’s in bars like Jimmy’s, by La Coupole, or the Melody’s nestled in the heights of Pigalle, where Don Marino Barreto’s (Cuban pianist and singer who emigrated to Paris in the 1920s) orchestra made the heyday of a surreal and carefree Paris. Parisian Ray Ventura and his band Les Collégiens, quite the breeding ground for funny songs, at times almost delirious, were always a big part of the party.
And after the Second World War, it started all over again. Rico’s Creole Band was one of the great Creole orchestras to sway all of Paris, the Blomet Ball brought together the Afro-Caribbean communities, L’Escale became an essential dancing ground for lovers of Latin music, the pianist Eddie Warner was one of these pillars, accompanied by his “rhythms”, a “witty orchestra with 85% of French musicians, only the percussionists were South American”. Another jazzman, Henri Rossotti, also navigated in the warm waters of these gentle tropical shores. They covered sambas and mambos, adapting Benny Moré and Pérez Prado. Hot, like the hard-hitting Benny Bennett and his orchestra of Latin American music, which ended up being the training grounds of many apprentice improvisers. On the menu: calypso, merengue… and of course chachacha. Shortly after, the Los Machucambos, a South American band created in the Latin Quarter performed music between guajira and flamenco and its song Pepito marked the start of the trio’s success.
At the time, Latin-style combos were all the rage in France such as the chachacha which was officially invented in the early 1950s by Enrique Jorrin, soon followed by the pachanga, becoming a staple of black-and-white films. In the long run, this music has become a sort of French standard, adapted by many: Boris Vian oftentimes, Bourvil, Bob Azzam, Gainsbourg, Carlos (jokingly), Louis Chedid, Vanessa Paradis… Taking it a little far, you could even detect the beginnings of the french touch. This Chachacha affair is emblematic of the atypical history of popular music, that of back-alleys, far from the paths and furrows of glory. Music, raised from the grave and dusted off by the Born Bad record label. In terms of latin music, these records that were patiently found in flea markets are becoming a rarity, even if most are worth three euros and six cents: this low cost hobby is underestimated by licensed collectors, who run like lunatics towards triple-zero rarities.
Chachacha Transistor, predicted the unlikely Jacky Ary, known for his less digestible Mange des tomates (Eat tomatoes). With the approach of the 1960s, typical music styles were found all over the country, from the northern plains to the southern sea. Never failing to cheer up dances, nor to whet the appetite of a burgeoning industry, which often seized it by opportunism, not without a tinge of cynicism. After all, one must sell records to the desolate youth, at all costs and any price. These 7-inch vinyl records were therefore recorded at Barclay, Vogue and co. Low-consumption products intended to supply the shelves of budding suburban supermarkets. The idea was to convert a North-American trend in the studio, by summoning old geezers (Paul Mauriat under the pseudonym of Eduardo Ruo, at the top of the list…) who would play young and interpret these rhythms with a distorted vision. All for just one season and all this before summer hits were a thing. It was already the same idea though, but in more of a D.I.Y fashion. A quick fix, just enough time for the producers to get some juicy revenue, the same ones who recruited teams to perform these “inferior” works. Most were flops, but a few made it big such as Jean Yanne answering to Henri Salvador for Allo Brigitte, a classic of the “comic-musical” genre. It’s author Norma Maine went on to write quite a few of these quirky songs.
Most had improbable dialogue, as well as senseless adaptations such as the Marchand de melons (The Melon Merchant) distorting Herbie Hancock’s Watermelon Man, a result of automatic writing in order to come up with ridiculous lyrics. What can be said about Tarte à la nana (Girl Pie), and how about Ça c’est du poulet ? (This is Chicken?) Or the terrible Soukou Soukou, on the limit of bad taste, words of a colonist… When it comes to reappropriating foreign know-how, the results can turn out strange like a surreal shock of cultures. Improbable mixes, like chacha bebop, latino tempo and scat jazz… It all definitely swings and is sometimes even quite impressive. Because magical loose moments are to be found in these records made to order, records that were just trying to recreate a successful pre-existing North American formula. They recorded them on the line, in the original spirit, or inconspicuously modified them, not only for fun, but also for the pleasure of adding on a chorus which would take the song a little further, or a well adjusted rhyme that would denote a touch of derision, a French tradition that was to be repeated in rock as in punk, and even bossa nova. The key often being explosive arrangements, occasionally beautiful choruses, radiant mishaps, confusing mistakes, not necessarily off-topic, all in all some sweet musical trips that always have an effect on the dancefloor when it’s time to boogie. Try it out, you’ll see, it works every time, if you don’t abuse of it. Moderation is recommended for this music that should be served either at cocktail hour or after midnight…

Since 2019 the collective of Parisian partygoers, Pardonnez-Nous, have decided to launch their own label. Just like their parties, their goal is to shine a light on dancing music.
Constantly looking for new tracks to enlighten the dancefloors, their outings are in line with the vision of deejaying defended by its founders. Finding forgotten pieces that are the geneses of dance music and mixing them with more contemporary sounds. Re-editions, edits, remixes or original productions the label doesn’t just stick to one style but aspires to represent all the music of partying!
Mexico, Peru, Surinam, and of course Sweden: in 1986, musicians from around the world responded to the Swedish composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Torbjörn Langborn’s invitation. His idea was to bring together the two groups he played with: a jazz quintet, and his salsa ensemble.
The cocktail was explosive: after several days recording at the Humlan studio in Stockholm, Torbjörn Langborn & the Feel Life Orchestra produced an eponymous album, combining, in Langborn’s words, “disco and funk with congas and Batá percussions.” The B side was a three-part gem nearly seven minutes long titled “Feel Life”, where he gives free rein to his talent as a jazz pianist. Thirty years later, we asked the famous remixer Dimitri from Paris to express is talent to produce a new version of this classic music track. "Pardonnez-nous", here it is.

Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs

When this album was first released in 1969, the young combo around vibraphonist and singer Andre Tanker conveyed a new style mix, which apparently naturally merged quite different musical influences into a new whole. At the centre of the music of the Andre Tanker Five was jazz in its Caribbean, Trinidadian style, a combination of the modern jazz of those days and the sounds of the extremely popular steeldrum bands of the time. A very decisive addition is typical for Trinidad: Calypso. Calypso stands for the attitude to life of this young generation of musicians, for the 'Good Time Feeling' and the desire to incorporate danceable Caribbean rhythms and Afro-Latin grooves into their individual style.
Although the original sounds of the young Andre Tanker Five are deeply rooted in the music of the West Indies, Afro-American elements always remain in the foreground. The young combo is musically equally at home in the Caribbean as in the 'hip' jazz clubs of the US megacities and the juke joints of the south with their sultry blues as well as the soul dance halls in Detroit or Memphis. The combination of vibraphone and electric guitar plus bass/drums is also rather unusual in those days. Not a pure instrumental album, 'Afro Blossom West' delivers some surprising vocals - rather unusual for a groove-jazz-based project with a sophisticated rhythmic sound.
Bandleader and vibraphonist Andre Tanker is considered a very creative and versatile musician. His exciting improvisations are a dominant feature of this group. Party In The City, Lena and Swahili are original compositions of which he sings the first two himself. Guitarist Clarence Wears is a gifted accompanist and effective soloist. His sometimes 'funky soul style' is more reminiscent of 'Memphis' than 'Trinidad'. Bass player Clive Bradley, who also plays piano and guitar, is a fine all-round musician who knows his music to the limit, and the rhythm section around Kester Smith (drums and timbales) and Mikey Coryat (congas) are able to provide the necessary power, but they can also play softly and subtly when the mood demands it.
As the album's name suggests, the combo refers deeply to the music and rhythms of Africa, whose roots - when shifted to the West - have produced the calypso, blues and Afro-Latin rhythms heard on this LP. We have had the album reworked from the original master tapes for this limited high quality LP edition by mastering expert Tom Meyer. New liner notes by Ron Reid shed light on the history of Andre Tanker, his combo and the circumstances that led to this creative product!

Around the year 1970, almost everything appeared to have been said about the style of music over the past two decades, which was a mix of samba and cool jazz. Adventurous musicians such as Luis Bonfa, Baden Powell, Charly Byrd, João and Astrud Gilberto, and the saxophonist Stan Getz lent fire and sentiment to the “new trend”. First and foremost among them was Carlos Antonio Jobim, whose catchy tunes such as the ticking, shuffling song "Desafinado" and the genial "One Note Samba" were heard all over the globe.
That the man from Ipanema still had a lot to say is proved by the present album, which presents Jobim’s creativity at the height of his maturity. Right from the very first number, where Urbie Green on the trombone 'sings' "Tereza My Love" so purely in the top register, it is clear that the late bossa with its typical rhythm is structurally far more refined than the early hot dance numbers. The melodies are woven through, as it were, with shining gold and silver threads of rhythm, and clusters of sound are light and airy. However, here and there, the musicians let their hair down, such as in the Latin classic "Brazil".
With that magician of sound Deodato as arranger and conductor, and Rudy van Gelder as recording engineer, this LP is certainly a Bossa masterpiece. There’s no more to be said!

Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs. Cover with beginning of seam split on top spine and light wear. Original inner sleeve with seam splits

Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs

Vinyl with scuffs and hairlines. Cover with light ring wear and stuffed corner.

Nice copy considering its age, with some yellowing and light ring wear, but artwork still looking good. Clear signs of use and slightly worn grooves, however plays fine, with just minimal surface noise audible only in some quiet sections.

Japanese pressing without OBI, with insert. Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs, close to VG+.

Original inner sleeve with seam splits. Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs

Cover has light foxing. Record is close to NM.

Vinyl is dense with light surface scratches and scuffs--will likely cause pop, clicks, and/or background noise

Continuing the Mr Bongo Cuban Classics Series, we shine a light on Los Reyes 73 and their sensational debut LP from 1975. The album had multiple different pressings under various titles and artworks, but the music stayed the same and speaks for itself. The group set the bar high with this fiery Afro-Cuban-funk gem, letting loose a vibrant Latin workout combining psych rock trippiness with a heavy dose of deep funk. Elements that fuse to firmly cement this album as a ‘70s Cuban masterpiece and one of our favourites here at Mr Bongo HQ.

Releasing just two albums and a handful of 7-inch singles, the band were a popular and influential group in Cuba at the time. Since then, they have featured on several compilation albums across the 2000s that have helped raise their profile amongst new audiences worldwide.

Produced by the magical Raúl Gómez, the album featured a list of heavyweight Cuban musicians. Directed by Santiago Reyes and Ovidio Guerra, with orchestration from greats including Ricardo Eddy Martinez who also released the much-loved album 'Expreso Ritmico' in 1978 alongside Ignacio Herrera, Mario Valdes and Gilberto García. The album also features the writing prowess of Los Van Van’s Miguel Ángel Rasalps.

Blending traditional Cuban Son aesthetics with funk influences and psychedelic touches, the music housed within showcases a cosmic fusion that stands up on any modern dancefloor. The scintillating opener ‘Grandes Amigos’, the tripped out ‘Adeoey’ and the grooving ‘Un Lamento Hecho Cancion’ are just a handful of examples that exhibit the sheer musical melting pot of this album.

For this reissue, we have chosen to use the artwork from a Mexican version of the album released on Pentagrama Records that features the beautiful bird illustration cover art. The Cuban edition was released on the state-run Areito.

An outstanding and wondrous Latin record that has long been calling out for an official reissue.

Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs. Cover close to NM

Sleeve has a bumped corner. Vinyl with light scuffs and hairlines.

Here at Mr Bongo we have been inundated with people asking us to reissue this release. Ana Frango Elétrico's petit cult classic masterpiece 'Little Electric Chicken Heart' from 2019, which was only ever released on vinyl and CD in Brazil and Japan, has fast become a collector's item.

Well received by fans, DJs, and reviewers on release, The Needle Drop expressed "Ana Frango Elétrico's authentically vintage fusion of chamber pop, rock, samba and jazz is a real blast!" listing it as one of its Top 50 Albums of 2019. The album's reputation has been slowly building ever since, gaining a Latin Grammy nomination in 2020, and now solidly cementing itself as a gem of contemporary Brazilian music.

Across the albums nine tracks, Ana blends elements and influences from MPB, Tropicália, indie rock, punk and pop, forging them together with a sumptuous dose of her signature style. The finesse of 'Saudade' kicks off the LP, one of Ana's most known tracks to a non-Brazilian audience. A sublime opener, beginning with a spellbinding piano solo before transcending into a beautiful dream-laden slice of warmth, complete with luscious jazzy horns and deft vocal delivery. ‘Promessa e previsões’ follows, the only track on the album not to be written by Ana, instead being penned by Chico França. It’s a swelling and sweeping twilight groover, building and breaking across absorbing peaks.

Other highlights on the album include the anthemic 'Chocolate', which was a firm favourite with a packed sing-along crowd when we heard Ana perform it live. Elsewhere, 'Se No Cinema' hits with its quirky allure, charm and catchy melodies before transforming into a carnival spirit.

Tapping into the richness of Brazil’s new wave of musical energy, the album also includes a heavyweight lineup of collaborations with artists such as Dora Morelenbaum (Bala Desejo), Tim Bernardes, Antonio Neves and Guilherme Lirio to name but a few.

A short, sweet and refreshing record, that leaves nothing to waste, marrying playful ideas with poignant themes. 'Little Electric Chicken Heart' is a future classic and will beguile fans of ‘70s Brazilian recordings, Gal Costa, Mac DeMarco, Stereolab, Superorganism, Caetano Veloso and more.

Writing on label.
Small light scuff on side 2.
Small writing on front cover.

Small light scuff on side A.

Vinyl with a couple of light scuffs. Cover with ring wear