News & Updates — latin funk

BRAND NEW!! OUT NOW!! The heaviest and sweatiest funk ensemble Big Mean Sound Machine's newest full length platter!! Runnin' For The Ghost is available now! Order here. Stores may contact Forced Exposure for wholesale. In a time when people need to come together more than ever, Big Mean Sound Machine is spreading positivity through communal dance by creating music that moves people of all ages and backgrounds. With this new album, the ten piece band breaks new sonic ground and creates a unique flavor of instrumental music with their fourth full-length studio album, Runnin’ for the Ghost, co-released by Peace...

Taking the world by storm: the amazing Locobeach!! Psychedelic disco-cumbia made in Brooklyn NY, from the bastard children of Chicha Libre and Los Crema Paraiso. Members of Los Amigos Invicibles, La Muy Bestia Pop and featuring the talents of Joshua Camp, songwriting talent and creator of the C.A.M.P.O.S. project. This fantastic new outfit is already electrifying audiences around NYC. Locobeach is cumbia pop; latin disco with a psychedelic/spaghetti western edge. This supergroup of a band is comprised of Jose Luis Pardo on guitars/vocals, Neil Ochoa on congas/percussion/electronics, Joshua Camp on accordion/keyboards/vocals and Edward Marshall on bass. Dance music for your...

The great Cuban conguero and bandleader Mongo Santamaría brought some spice to the American popular music scene. He had been bandleader for the prestigious Tropicana house band in Havana in the '40s before coming to NYC in 1950. He was the composer of "Afro Blue" and had a huge hit with Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man". In addition to his own groovy ensembles, he played with Cal Tjader, Tito Puente, Perez Prado, Fania All Stars, Willie Bobo, Dizzy Gillespie and others. It's always a pleasure to hear his Afro-Cuban arrangements of popular soul tunes, as well as his Orisha-guided rumbas. He...

Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros is my favorite of the great Cuban trumpeters. He had a powerhouse sound that could be brash and forceful, or sweet and lyrical. He got his professional start while still in Cuba, cutting his first sides in '49 with René Álvarez. The '50s saw him busy with Arsenio Rodriguez and Beny Moré. He also played with Nat King Cole on the pianists' Cuban sessions. He came to NYC in 1960 and got a lot of work doing sessions and playing in several bands. He played consistently with Eddie Palmieri from the late '60s through the '70s. In...

April 7 will see the release of the brand new album by one of your favorite funky ensembles, Big Mean Sound Machine. The East coast band's fourth full length album, Runnin' For The Ghost, is co-released by Peace & Rhythm (USA) and Blank Slate Records (Germany). In a time when people need to come together more than ever, Big Mean Sound Machine is spreading positivity through communal dance by creating music that moves people of all ages and backgrounds. With this new album, the ten piece band breaks new sonic ground and creates a unique flavor of instrumental music with...