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Croatian salsa, Cuban ska, and Oregonian mambo!?!? These are three of the unlikely gems listeners will find on Afro-Latin Party. What started out as an effort to provide the perfect soundtrack to a Latin dance party became a tribute to the global appreciation and realization of the musical ricochet between Cuba and Africa.
Central to the Afro-Latin phenomenon is Africando, who provide three songs on Afro-Latin Party, each with a different African lead singer. In the 1960s and 1970s, the biggest names in African music—including such heavyweights as Youssou N’Dour and Salif Keita—were performing Latin music, thanks to vinyl that came over from abroad. Cultural exchange between Cuba and the socialist governments in Mali and other parts of West Africa was a regular phenomenon. Performers like the Fania All Stars and Celia Cruz toured Africa and became musical icons.
In 1992, legendary Africando founders Ibrahim Sylla and Boncana Maïga traveled to New York to record with top local salsa musicians, many who were taken by surprise by these Africans performing their phonetically learned Spanish lyrics. Interestingly, many of the band members on the three Africando tracks here, also play on other tracks on Afro-Latin Party.
Even with all the geographic and era crisscrossing on the album, at its core Afro-Latin Party is still a dance record beckoning party-goers to traverse the planet while they navigate the dance-floor.
Track listing:
1. AFRICANDO featuring AMADOU BALAKE: Betece • (Africa/Latin America)
2. JOSE MANGUAL JR.: Ritmo Con Ache • (Puerto Rico/USA)
3. PEPE & THE BOTTLE BLONDES: Cuentame Que Te Paso • (USA)
4. SKA CUBANO: Babalu • (Cuba/Jamaica/UK)
5. AFRICANDO featuring MEDOUNE DIALLO: Mandali • (Africa/Latin America)
6. CUBISMO: Morenita • (Croatia)
7. AFRICANDO featuring NICHOLAS MENHEIM: Demal • (Africa/Latin America)
8. CHICO ALVAREZ: Cogele el Gusto • (Cuba/USA)
9. RONALD RUBINEL'S SALSA KOLOR: La Huelga Me Paró • (Martinique/Cuba)
10. RICARDO LEMVO & MAKINA LOCA: Samba Luku Samba • (Congo/Cuba)
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