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Buena Vista Social Club

Childrens Toy Shop > Music > Latin Jazz
by: Buena Vista Social Club, Ry Cooder

June 09, 1997
When the lights came up in the cinema where we saw Wim Wenders' movie of the same name, we saw grown adults weeping. This is more than a band, it is a musical phenomenon. Such a synergy is rare in this day and age, and the vibe on this album is just fantastic.

Buy it and weep, because you have missed your chance to ever see or hear Ruben Gonzales, Compay Segundo or Ibrahim Ferrer playing live with the band again, but the remaining members still tour and the band is organic, progressing through the years with younger, equally talented musicians, so if you see a gig advertised and can get to it, don't miss it! This album has changed many lives...

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I Love Salsa: Essential Dance Class Hits

Childrens Toy Shop > Music > Latin Jazz
by: Various Artists

March 20, 2000
Although I really enjoyed the music,I did find a lot of the tracks very fast to keep up with being a complete beginner.You either have to go ultra slow or extremely fast.I found there were only a few tracks that went at the right speed to comfortably practice as a novice.Will keep it for when I'm an expert!If anyone out ther knows of a CD with a more suitable for beginners,please let me know.

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Rhythms Del Mundo (featuring Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs...)

Childrens Toy Shop > Music > Latin Jazz
by: Rhythms Del Mundo

March 26, 2007
this is just a fantastic blend of different genres of music.
the music is pure joy.
if you really want to enjoy this,
get a dance partner and head out to
the local salsa dance club with this CD.
simply brilliant stuff. recommended.

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Tropidelico

Childrens Toy Shop > Music > Latin Jazz
by: Quantic Soul Orchestra

October 22, 2007
This has to be one of my absolute favourite albums of recent months. It's Will Holland at his absolute best. Even if you're not familiar with this man's work, I defy you not to like this!!

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Piazzolla: Tango Zero Hour

Childrens Toy Shop > Music > Latin Jazz
from: Nonesuch

April 03, 2000
This as hands down one of the most astonishing recordings I have ever heard. I bought it knowing a bit about tango, and a bit about Piazzolla, but regardless of that, this is incredible music. The music itself is gorgeous - dark, beautiful, ominous, brooding and deeply passionate. The playing is beyond compare - laser precise and yet at the same time gritty and rough. This is very much a band effort, and what a band - they swing, caress and whip up thunder.

Apparently this angered the tango purists in Argentina, as did much of Piazzollas output, and I can see why - this is modern, vital music, with clear influences from jazz, classical music and even the rush of punk. I must emphasise that you do not need to know much about tango to enjoy ... Read More:

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Getz/Gilberto Vol.1: Remastered

Childrens Toy Shop > Music > Latin Jazz
by: Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim

May 25, 1999
Antonio Carlos Jobim goes down with Lennon/McCartney, Gershwin, Amstrong as one of the most influential songwriter/stylists of the 20th century.

To judge the album on its own merits is one thing. Getz turns in small but perfectly formed solos. Astrid Gilberto's voice is ravishing, complementing husband Joao's voice with that incredibly restrained vulnerability that is the essence of Bossa. It is an album of incredible tenderness and instrospection. The studio atmosphere is very intimate with an almost homespun quality. For me its a five star album in its own right.

However, this album has a far larger significance, in the way that Sargeant Pepper did. It changed everything and set off ripples that are still reverberating today.
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Out to Lunch

Childrens Toy Shop > Music > Latin Jazz
by: Eric Dolphy

May 03, 1999
Make sure you do some reading up on Eric Dolphy before you buy this. Don't expect to hear anything resembling the winning Blue Note hard bop formula characteristic of the fifities and sixties. As far as Jazz goes this is way ahead of it's time, those who know the contemporary Jazz scene will know that there are plenty of acts out there who try and sound exactly like what you hear on this record.
OK, it's not easy listening. For me Dolphy's compositions are no way near as compelling as some of Ornette Colman's for example. It's quirky, mysterious, it has you scratching your chin trying to figure it all out. "Gazzelloni," starts off as very accessible before disappearing into some great flute loops. Add to that William's nuerotic sounding drums and it makes ... Read More:

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Chavez Ravine

Childrens Toy Shop > Music > Latin Jazz
by: Ry Cooder

June 13, 2005
....it's going to be. That is ....it isn't Buena Vista Social Club, it isn't Ibrahim Ferrer, it isn't Ali Farka Toure, it isn't Flaco Jimenez. But then again it's all of these and more. In particular it's more of Ry and in a bigger sense its more altogether. A commanding view with all Ry Cooder's talents of bringing together disparate elements into a musical whole. Every play pays off and the record gets better and better with each hearing. In some ways it reminds me of early spring backs to folk melodies on "Into the Purple Valley" but with everything that he has done since coming together over a long and fruitful career and adding to the disc. Quite possibly the best thing that he has out together for a long time and worth persisting with

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Caravanserai: Remastered

Childrens Toy Shop > Music > Latin Jazz
by: Santana

October 06, 2003
I think this is the best santana album (at least studio album because then theres Lotus live in Japan) and serves as a masterclass in the fusion of so many musics yet it sounds so pure and it still amazes how all the influences can be heard so clearly but at the same time everything about this album is so unique...Everytime i hear it it impresses me even more how the songs transition into one another so seamlessly and it is almost over as soon as it had began.

Anyways, highly recommended album for guitar fans, jazz fans, early santana stuff, woodstock fans...you see where im going here, worth buying by just having "all the love in the universe"

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Latin: the Essential Album

Childrens Toy Shop > Music > Latin Jazz
by: Various Artists

July 25, 2001
CD1 opens with Pete Roderiguez' tight Latin soul mover 'I like it like that' and closes with the now infamous Mambo No. 5 in its original trumpet-piano beauty. Whilst not everyone will know it by name the popular Latin classic 'Oya Coma Va' (Santana's version) opens CD2. Whilst under the heading Latin this superb compilation manages to include everything from Latin samba to 1990's Latin house, the later of which concludes CD2 in the quite masterful 'Guallando' by Fulanito with its heavy basslines and incredible accordion sound. The songs in-between are hardly fillers either with an emphasis placed on big names and popular tunes (such as the Cuban 'Guantanamera'), as well as the odd rare gem. This is the perfect introduction to anyone looking to take their first steps into Latin music. ... Read More: