News & Updates — latin soul

Happy birthday to the great vibraphonist Cal Tjader! A gringo who contributed greatly to the development and popularity of Latin-jazz and was an architect of what became known as "Latin rock". He grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and learned to tap-dance and play piano & drum kit at an early age. He played Dixieland as a teenager and formed a group with then-unknown Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond, with Tjader playing kit. He cut his first disk with Fantasy in '52 and soonafter joined George Shearing's group. Tjader and bassist Al McKibbon encouraged Shearing to hire percussionists...

“New York is a great place for Latin music today." — Erica Ramos Enlace Funk No. 56, 2017 For some time now it seems that the new Latin sounds coming out of NYC have been in good health. The ‘Latin Resistance’ – made of sounds that were born in the city of New York – continues to occupy its share within the larger urban underground scene of genuine and authentic music made in the USA, offering quality surprises with bands and songs that deserve more exposure and success. At the head of the Latin Soul scene and the new boogaloo...