Los Super Seven/Canto

Los Super Seven were, initially, a Tex-Mex supergroup – a studio project formed in 1997 bringing David Hidalgo and CÉsar Rosas from Los Lobos together with Texan legends Flaco JimÉnez and Freddy Fender alongside more youthful Texan talents Ruben Ramos and Rick Treviño, plus veteran country rocker Joe Ely. On their eponymous debut, they sang and played their way through originals and traditional songs; Ely does a particularly fine take on Woody Guthrie's ‘Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)’, a song that sounds then and now extremely relevant.

Canto (2002) ranges into the wider Latin world, with Caetano Veloso, Raul Malo and Susana Baca guesting, adding Cuban, Peruvian and Brazilian music alongside the Mexican flavours. Across both albums you find great songs handled by superb musicians – and what voices! From Fender and Ely to guests Baca and Malo, these are some of the finest singers in the Americas.