ROOTS OF SALSA VOLUME 1: CLASSIC LATIN TUNES BECOME SALSA HITS | VINYL RECORD (LP)

Pablo Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead, compiles an amazing series for Grosso Recordings, Roots Of Salsa, with classics tunes from Caribbean music that became great successes of "Salsa". Yglesias on the compilation: "This series is born of my investigations into the music I love, digging deep into the Afro-Antillean songbook from the golden period of Latin music to unearth older - sometimes definitive or at the very least early hit renditions - of tunes that would later be covered by the next succeeding waves of salseros. That is not to say these are the first recorded versions (though some are); indeed, there is a whole other even earlier epoch of recordings, from the 1920s and '30s, which also served as fodder for future generations of Latin musicians. The mission with this series is to choose recordings from the 1940s and '50s that not only were influential in the 1970s but also have good-to-excellent recording fidelity and could be an aid not only in advancing people's understanding of the origins of salsa, but also serve as a DJ tool to show that there was an earlier version of a hit that the casual salsa fan may not know about. These treasures, some now forgotten and obscure, others still played in some melómano (salsa fan) circles, are representative of the earlier era of compositions and performances that would serve to inspire and shape the movement that would become a transnational symbol of Latinidad from the 1960s through the 1980s, before the next generation created their own vernacular styles for dancing and expressing their identity anew." Features: Cheo Marquetti y Su Conjunto, Vicentico Valdés Con La Sonora Matancera, Mariano Mercerón y Sus Muchachos Pimienta, Senén Suárez y Su Conjunto Del Tropicana Night Club, Orquesta Aragón, René Álvarez y Su Conjunto Los Astros, Arsenio Rodríguez y Su Conjunto, Joseíto Fernández Con Orquesta Aragón, Conjunto Flores Valdés, Conjunto Casino, Randy Carlos And His Orchestra, Alfonsin Quintana y Su Conjunto Jovenes Del Cayo, Trío Matamoros, and Chapuseaux y Damirón. 140 gram vinyl; Includes insert with Spanish/English liner notes by Pablo "Bongohead" Yglesias; Includes CD.