CHUITO AND THE LATIN UNIQUES

In the late 60s, Latin New York was dominated by the boogaloo and Latin Soul. From the music’s first flowering with Johnny Colon’s “Boogaloo Blues” and “Joe Cuba’s ‘Bang Bang” it was clear that this sound of the 2nd and 3rd generation New York born children of Puerto Rican immigrants was bringing a new fervour, mixing traditional Latin music with the sounds of the soul music that was in the air of the city. For the next few years, until it was blown away by the juggernaut of salsa this was the sound of Latin New York. In the wake of its success independent labels and producers dominated the scene. Richard Marin with his production deal with Decca, George Goldner’s Cotique and of course the fledgling Fania Records, a label that would eventually come to dwarf all of the labels. One of the most vital, but smallest was Speed, run by read more...