Fania All-Stars Live

At a time when every Latin label paraded their best and brightest performers to play in all-star groups, the Fania label based out of New York had the hottest roster of hardcore Latin jazz-funk players in the world. Just to name a few, artists like Ray Barreto, Willie Colon, Mongo Santamaria, Eddie Palmieri, Celia Cruz and Cheo Feliciano would grace stages around the world as ambassadors of Latin music. In this incredible collection released by Vampisoul, the Fania All-Stars burn through epic-length solos and unbelievable grooves over a span of two discs. The first disc covers the original Fania All-Stars live at the Red Garter in ’69 and then at the Cheetah club in ’71, playing mostly powerhouse Latin-jazz blow-outs and boogaloo. The second disc has the bigger and flashier Fania All-Stars playing smoking salsa during legendary shows at Yankee Stadium and in Africa in ’74. Although it’s probably best to run out and get the DVDs Our Latin Thing, Salsa and Live in Africa, we can’t all afford to do so. Hot Sweat is an excellent collection of some of Latin music’s most unforgettable and electric live musical moments done by the legends that helped reinvent Latin music as we know it today.