Jose Mangual & Carlos Patato Valdes - Understanding Latin Rhythms (Latin drums, 1974)

(LPV-337).

Top latin percussions musicians from New York 70s give a masterclass titled: Understanding Latin Rhythms. Pick up your instruments, listen and play.

Alberto Beltran, El Negrito del Batey (Dominican singer in Cuba, Panart 1950s)

(Panart LP-2017).

Panart Records was a pre-revolution cuban record label (before 1959), and released a good number of amazing records. Here's Alberto Beltran, a dominican singer, joined by Conjunto Casino. 

Alberto Beltran (+1997) begun his musical career in "Republica de Santo Domingo" in the 40s, and fame allowed him to travel to Curaçao, Puerto Rico, New York, Haiti, and then to push merengue style in Cuba, recording from 1954 with Sonora Matancera and Conjunto Casino.

Remy Mondey - Meringue çe misic en moin (Creole meringue, 60s)

(DEBS 179).

A great early track with Remy Mondey's accordion and Emilien Antile's superb sax... Guadeloupe and Martinique integrated various influences from neighbor caribbean islands, such as cadence from Haiti, reggae from Jamaica, calypso from Trinidad (or cadencelypso from Dominique). Here the rhythms is a progressive merengue, coming from Republican Dominic.

David Zé - Merengue San Antonio (Angola, 1974)

(Rebita R:1128, Fabricado por FADIANG - Fabrica de Discos de Angola).

From the 60s, electric wave hit Angola with a big influence from northern neighbor Congo and his typical electric guitar rhythms. But more traditional Angolan rhythms like semba or rebita are also often integrated into new music productions, same way as external influences (from Brasil or West Indies, including merengue) which made Angolan music a really rich and rhythmically diversified mixture, despite the few quantity of vinyls that could survive up to now.