During the 70s in pregentrification New York City the streets were alive with the sound of salsa in such neighbourhoods as Spanish Harlem, the East Village’s Loisada and the Grand Concourse area of the Bronx. There was dancing in the streets and the Fania label was top of the tree for unleashing steamy, percussion-driven workouts. Just as important were ‘los soneros’, the singers with the bands who predated hip-hop in bringing their messages and poems from the street, represented on this captivating set by such names as Eddie Palmieri, Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz and Ruben Blades, all giving it loads over the percolating grooves, driving pianos and hotsauce brass.
Meanwhile, Matt Ford, aka DJ Format, follows Gilles Peterson in the Fania DJ Series, which sees jocks presenting choice items from the illustrious catalogue and mixing them into 2007. These range from classics by Tito Puente and Ray Barretto, to obscure gems like Cholo Rivera’s low-riding Black & Blue. There’s also Ford’s own remix of Dave Cortez’s Happy Soul With A Hook, and it’s all perfectly rounded off with Harlem River Drive’s Harlem River Drive Theme. The quality of the music is already proven, but Ford’s immaculate selection and deadly art of weaving elevates this into a major summer party album.
