With her powerful pipes, stunning showmanship, and superhuman sense of timing, Celia Cruz defined her chosen genre like few other performers in the history of popular music. EXITOS ETERNOS is a collection of tracks the "Queen of Salsa" recorded during the last decade of her life that, despite the vocalist's advanced age, clearly show Cruz's talents never wavered. Known for her uncompromising attitude and refusal to sing in English, Cruz valued aesthetic purity, but never became a museum piece. A driving pulse and rhythmic toasting that recall dancehall reggae propel her 2001 hit "La Negra Tiene Tumbao," and other tracks feature subtle synthesizer textures. Unlike lesser artists, however, Cruz is able to incorporate these disparate sonic colors seamlessly, making them sound as traditional as a conga drum or guiro. Of course, the unrelenting force behind each recording is Cruz's astounding voice, the sheer energy of which makes even these later recordings sound both classic and utterly contemporary.

Flamboyant and innovative percussionist who infused big-band music with Latin sounds to become El Rey de los Timbales.
By virtue of his warm and buoyant stage manner, constant touring, longevity, and appearances in the mass media, Tito Puente became one of the most beloved symbols of Latin jazz. But more than that, he managed to keep his music remarkably fresh over the decades; as a timbales virtuoso, he combined mastery over every rhythmic nuance with old-fashioned showmanship. A trained musician, he was also a fine, lyrical vibraphonist, a gifted arranger, and played piano, congas, bongos, and saxophone…

Universally known as the King of the Mambo, Pérez Prado was the single most important musician involved in the hugely popular Latin dance craze. Whether he actually created the rhythm is somewhat disputed, but it's abundantly clear that Prado developed it into a bright, swinging style with massive appeal for dancers of all backgrounds and classes. Prado's mambo was filled with piercing high-register trumpets, undulating saxophone counterpoint, atmospheric organ (later on), and harmonic ideas borrowed from jazz. While his tight percussion arrangements allowed for little improvisation, they were dense and sharply focused, keeping the underlying syncopations easy for dancers to follow. Prado played the piano, but was often more in his element as the focal point of the audience's excitement; he leaped, kicked, danced, shouted, grunted, and exhorted his musicians with a dynamic stage presence that put many more sedate conductors and bandleaders to shame. With this blueprint, Prado brought mambo all the way into the pop mainstream, inspiring countless imitators and scoring two number one singles on the pop charts (albeit in a smoother vein than the fare that first made his name) as the fad snowballed. He was a star throughout most of the Western Hemisphere during the '50s, and even after his popularity waned in the United States, he remained a widely respected figure in many Latin countries, especially his adopted home of Mexico.

The Real Cuban Music is a widespread collection of the best Cuban music recorded in the island over various decades. This album is part of the first big collection, separated into six different volumes dedicated to the most important rhythms and dances of the island: Son, Cha Cha Cha, Mambo, Guaracha, Guajira and Timba. The audio CD version comes with a companion DVD to help you learn all the dance moves, so you don't just enjoy listening to the music but also learn to dance to these fantastic rhythms. Mambo is a musical form and dance style that developed originally in Cuba, with further significant developments by Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians in Mexico and the USA. The word "mambo" means "conversation with the gods" in Kikongo the language spoken by Central African slaves, who were taken to Cuba. Modern mambo began with a song called "Mambo" written in 1938 by brothers Orestes and Cachao López.

Music from and inspired by his films - 3 double-CDs in a deluxe limited edition boxset. Each of the double CDs was released earlier and has own catalog number. Rediscover the best of QUENTIN TARANTINO's filmography including the films "Kill Bill", "Pulp Fiction", "Inglorious Basterds", "Reservoir Dogs" or "Jackie Brown", through this splendid 6CD box set from the Music Brokers label. We will find here only the official music with artists including Nancy Sinatra, Urge Overkill, Joe Cocker, Johnny Cash, Serge Gainsbourg, Guy Mitchell, The Coasters, Woody Guthrie and many others!

Prez was the album that brought Perez Prado, the King of the Mambo, into the American mainstream. Here he rearranged pop hits to fit the Latin dance idiom, adding a few genuine mambos for good measure. Though the album wasn't pure mambo, it was simply delightful music and it illustrated how to bring world music to a broader, popular audience.

This is a repackaging of a release from 1960 credited to both the René Hernandez Orchestra and the René Hernandez Orchestra with Pacheco, called Percussive Latino Cha Cha Cha (Audio Fidelity label). According to Discogs information this session was recorded in November, 1957, in New York City.

Featuring prime Latin jazz cuts from the heyday of the mambo, Afro Cuban Jazz: 1947-1960 is really a better than average showcase for one of the music's best: Machito. In fact, this disc contains 13 sides by Machito & His Orchestra, including two bebop gems featuring Charlie Parker ("Mango Mangue," "No Noise, Pts. 1-2"). That's not to overlook the presence of one of the supreme champions of Latin jazz, Dizzy Gillespie ("Manteca"), Stan Kenton and his mathematically frenetic bongo jams, and J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding teaming up for a couple of classics. Truthfully, however, the real meat here is heard on such Machito dancefloor fillers as "Oyeme" and "Minor Rama." So, when you've got a jones for jazz in a mambo mood, this disc will provide the needed salve.