Search - Various Artists :: Ritmo De La Noche: Very Best of Latin Jazz

Jazz and Latin music are each irresistible on their own. Ritmo de la Noche combines them with a brilliance that would shame a rainbow. This collection of Latin jazz classics includes jazz men such as flutist Herbie Mann, who embraces tough Cuban rhythms on Horace Silver's "Señor Blues," from 1965, and the Fania All Stars' conga man, Ray Barretto, gliding into smooth-jazz territory with 1979's infectious "La Cuña." Astrud Gilberto brings bossa nova into the mix with the seductive "Ponteio" from 1971, featuring Stanley Turrentine playing the Stan Getz role on sax. Argentina's Gato Barbieri wields his familiar sultry tenor saxophone on the cha-cha-cha "Sweet Glenda," while perennial crossover star Carlos Santana hitches his unmistakable Bay Area barrio rock to 1973's percolating "Samba de Sausalito." The genius of the individual songs is matched by the effortless flow of the entire disc. And seminal selections like Mongo Santamaria's "Watermelon Man" from 1965 benefit from the clean and detailed remastered versions here. --Bob Tarte