Viva El Chicano! Their Very Best
Artist: El Chicano

One of Latin rock's most restless, dynamic groups, El Chicano recorded furious Latin jams and gorgeous pop ballads, covering everyone from Van Morrison to Les Baxter to Ray Barretto, and recording some solid original material as well. Though it includes only ten songs, Viva El Chicano! Their Very Best weighs in at nearly 50 minutes, and tells El... Read More

Vento de Maio
Artist: Elis Regina

This is a posthumous compilation of some works by Elis Regina, put together under no evident concept other than throwing together some songs composed by the mineiros of the Clube da Esquina, mixed with other composers. It has songs by the dance/pop composer Guilherme Arantes (launched by her), a track by Adoniran Barbosa where she is featured,... Read More

Nascimento
Artist: Milton Nascimento

This is Milton Nascimento's most deeply Brazilian-sounding album in a long time, also the most downcast, but none the worse in its emotional impact. He adopts the battering, heavy percussion rhythms of the folia boxes (popularized by OLODUM) on several tracks, which frame the main portion of the album and give it enormous vitality. There isn't a... Read More

Amoroso/Brasil
Artist: João Gilberto

Two of the influential João Gilberto's LPs (Amoroso and Brasil) are combined on this single CD. The former session is pretty definitive with Gilberto interpreting four of Antonio Carlos Jobim's compositions (including "Wave" and "Triste") and four other songs (highlighted by "Besame Mucho," "Estate," and an odd 31-bar rendition of "'S... Read More

Elis Por Ela
Artist: Elis Regina

This best-of collection features live and studio recordings from her middle and late albums. It contains five tracks from the live Saudade do Brasil, four tracks from Live at Montreux, and five studio tracks, notably a resuscitated (finally) version of "Beguine Dodoi," whose mastering was horrifically botched on the U.S. release of Essa Mulher.... Read More

Siembra
Artist: Willie Colón

The high point of Willie Colón's ongoing collaboration with Rubén Blades (and close to a career peak for both artists), Siembra exploded on the salsa scene in 1978 and has never been forgotten by fans. Beginning with a minute of playfully deceptive quasi-disco arrangements, Colón and his band slip into a devastating salsa groove for the opener,... Read More

The Big Break
Artist: Willie Colón
Community Score: 10.00

Colon's third album is the clearest early sign of his individuality, with a Ghanaian children's song, the first of his Panamanian-influenced numbers, and a prophetic venture into Brazilian rhythms. ~ John Storm Roberts, All Music Guide Read More

Metiendo Mano
Artist: Willie Colón
Community Score: 3.00

Salsa history in the making: the album in which Willie Colon introduced Ruben Blades to the wider world. An obvious classic, given Blades's subsequent history, but it's also a gorgeous album with Yomo Toro on two tracks (one playing guitar), the great pianist Sonny Bravo on two cuts, and ace percussion with Milton Cardona and Nicky Marrero. ~... Read More

Nothing But the Truth
Artist: Rubén Blades
Urubu
Artist: Antonio Carlos Jobim

Urubu is the album that MCA's Jobim probably aspired to be, a total break away from the bossa nova past that is both ambitious and strikingly original. The shock of dissonant strings, percussive and wind sounds from the Brazilian interior greet us on the first track "Bôto," the first of four songs in which a defiant Jobim throws structural... Read More

Amoroso
Artist: João Gilberto

This 1977 classic is to swoon over: Gilberto singing in Portuguese, Spanish ("Besame Mucho!"), Italian, and English, with strings arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman. ~ Terri Hinte, All Music Guide Read More

Os Mutantes
Artist: Os Mutantes
Community Score: 10.00

The band's debut album, Os Mutantes, is far and away their best -- a wildly inventive trip that assimilates orchestral-pop, whimsical psychedelia, musique concrète, found-sound environments -- and that's just the first song! Elsewhere there are nods to Carnaval, albeit with distinct hippie sensibilities, incorporating fuzz-tone guitars... Read More