Salsa Mundo is BGP’s new series that focuses on the development of Salsa around the world. Future releases will look at the scene in Venzuela and Puerto Rico, but our first destination is Colombia with its incredibly vibrant scene dominated by the legendary Discos Fuentes label.
Over 18 tracks we trace the growth of Colombian Salsa from its 1960s roots in a country in a relative state of calm through the 1970s when Colombia became engulfed by an armed struggle involving many sides of society and funded by a rising tide of cocaine smuggling. The music reflected the everyday struggle but also acted as an escapist conduit.
We cover all the major acts, from Joe Arroyo with his classic ‘Rebelion’, through the band of Fruko and the legendary Latin Brothers. We also include obscure sounds from the likes of Lisandro Messa and Combo Los Yogas. The disc closes on the incendiary Afro-latin funk of ‘Shakalaode’ from 1976, a UK club classic since the mid-80s.
The whole series is put together by noted latin music collector Mike Delanian, using several decades of knowledge. The booklet is lavishly illustrated with images of the covers of many of the rare albums from which the music has been taken.
By Dean Rudland
