Tiki Con Salsa: New Island Music for Summer

Latin Party Music

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Now that it's getting warm and we spend more time at the backyard tiki bar pretending we're in the Caribbean, nothing gets us there faster than the new Putumayo album Latin Party. The first track, “Big Apple Boogaloo” by the Brooklyn Funk Essentials, brings instant tropical heat that hardly flags over the course of the album. Rooted in Cuban son, Puerto Rican salsa and Colombian cumbia, and laced with ska and reggae rhythms, much of this music was assembled in musical capitals like New York, London and Paris. The result in a contemporary cosmopolitan sound that nevertheless stays true to its tangled roots and dance floor mission. If you like Latin music and haven’t heard groups like Yerba Buena and Ska Cubano before, chances are this compilation will send you in search of its sources. Don’t take our word for it: You can sample all the tunes on putumayo.com.

Tags: caribbean festivals