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various artists Panama! Latin, Calypso and Funk on the Isthmus 1965-75 (Soundways) Panama played host to many musicians from across the Caribbean to South America, laying down some of the best Latin, funk and calypso ever recorded. The Exciters, Victor Boa and Lord Cobra are heard once again. Panama occupies a unique place both geographically and culturally within Central America and the Caribbean. The CD presents a broad range of styles that run parallel to the development of soul and funk music in the US and the nascent salsa sound emerging from Miami, Cali and Baranquilla. The album covers heavy Latin descargas, raw calypsos, deep funk sounds and Caribbean soul, all unavailable since they were first issued in tiny numbers thirty years ago. All tracks have been carefully licensed and re-mastered and sound as vibrant and relevant today as the day they were released. CD comes packed with in-depth liner notes, original cover scans and contemporary photos.     Also available: Panama2! Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical and Calypso Funk on the Isthmus 1967-77 Panama3! Calypso Panameño, Guajira Jazz and Cumbia Típica on the Isthmus 1960-75

More info: Review in the Telegraph, UK A fly-blown buffer zone between North and South America, Panama barely registers on the international cultural radar. Indeed, its one significant musical export, the loping cumbia rhythm, is generally associated with Colombia. Yet these grainy ’60s and ’70s recordings by bands you will absolutely never have heard of constitute one of the year’s most exhilarating listens so far. The sheer heat generated by blasting salsa instrumentals such as Los Exagerados’s Panama estra bueno y ma makes most modern recordings seem pitifully tight and sterile by comparison. There’s an all-or-nothing fervour of the kind that can only be achieved through live, one-take recording – a relentless, super-fast piano figure providing a springboard for brass solos of truly nerve-jangling intensity. The tempos settle slightly as the music reflects the influence of American funk and Trinidadian calypso. Victor Boa’s Soy Solo Para Ti has a glorious, quasi-African piano swing, while Bolito y Su Tentacion’s incandescent jam Descarga Tentacion has the feel of ’70s Latin New York at its most sophisticated. A plinking salsa-flavoured calypso, sung by one Lord Cobra, completes this revelatory album. Mark Hudson Tracks: 1. Los Exagerados – Panama Esta Bueno y … Ma 2. Bush y Sus Magnificos – Nana Nina 3. Victor Boa y Su Musica – Soy Solo Para Ti 4. The Exciters – The New Bag 5. Los Fabulosos Festivals – El Mensaje 6. Lord Cobra and Pana-Afro Sounds – Rocombey 7. Los Dinamicos Exciters featuring Ralph Weeks – Let Me Do My Thing 8. Freddy y sus Afro Latinos – Maltrato 9. The Exciters – Exciters Theme 10. Los Caballeros de Colon – Con Los Caballeros 11. Bolita y su Tentacion Latina – Descarga Tentacion 12. Los Silvertones – Old Buzzard 13. Los Mozambiques – Viva Tirado 14. Papi Brandao Y Su Ejecutivos - Viva Panama 15. Maximo Rodriguez y Sus Estrellas Panameñas – Mambologia

Other recordings you might like: Panama2! Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical and Calypso Funk on the Isthmus 1967-77 Panama3! Calypso Panameño, Guajira Jazz and Cumbia Típica on the Isthmus 1960-75