Various Artists Lost Classics of Salsa - Resena de audio grabacion

Latin Beat Magazine, Nov, 2003 by Jesse Varela

(Libertad)

From the first track, (Palos de Fuego, by Candido y su Movimiento) to the last tune (Orquesta Olivieri's Los Muchachos de Belen), Lost Classics of Salsa unearths rare old-school jams that groove and carry pointed lyrical messages. Producer Aaron Levinson restored and assembled the ten tracks with the idea of presenting a slice of barrio life. My Ghetto, by Kent Gomez, is an instrumental that rocks with raw, clave-centric horn lines and a sound that resonates like those old dances at church and union halls. The Tite Curet Alonso tune Tumbaron La Veintiuna, interpreted by Orquesta de Cuchon, is a lament about gentrification. El Vago, by Danny Gonzalez y Orquesta Sensacional, addresses the pitfalls of vices and street life.

But the nature of the music is reminiscent of its early days when it was enjoyed through little car speakers on AM radios. What cut through were unison horn harmonies with mambo counterpoint, singers with nasally voices and a potent coro that everybody could sing. It was a golden age when Barretto, Pacheco and Harlow were hitting hard with Fania Records. Lost Classics of Salsa showcases the unsung, undertow bands that propelled the wave that swelled into the salsa boom of the 1970s.