El Callegüeso y su Mala Maña

Cali is known as the home of salsa in Colombia, a reputation based on the way they dance it, rather than anything musical. But with the emergence of La Mambanegra, that could change. Led by vocalist and veritable engine-room Jacobo Vélez (once of La Mojarra Eléctrica), the ten-piece group have reinvigorated salsa with a tight, funky brass section, aided by Vélez's motoric delivery and a mythological back-story that sounds too far-fetched to be true. The short version is that one of Vélez's descendants was the son of a slave who jumped on a boat in Colombia, got chucked off near Cuba and was saved by an Afro-Cuban priest. There he made friends with Chano Pozo, was given a magical flute called ‘La Mambanegra’ and then eventually found his way to New York to play salsa for a living. Though hard to corroborate all parts of the story, what's certain is the potency of this incarnation of La Mambanegra. From the fiery opener ‘Puro Potenkem’, through the Latin disco of ‘Me Parece Perfecto’ or slower numbers like ‘Cantare Para Vos’, this is an album that shows Cali is responsible for some of the most raw, passionate and visceral salsa being made anywhere in the world.