Merengue Loco Out of This World Cha Cha

Would-be lawyer Gilberto Calderón broke his leg playing stickball in Spanish Harlem, took up the congas, became Joe Cuba. His sextet went on to become pioneers of Latin boogaloo, and a decade before his death in 2009, Cuba was inducted into the Latin Music Hall of Fame.

The good news from Malanga is that they have collected three early albums that have never before been released on CD. The bad news is that only Joe Cuba is truly Joe Cuba: both Merengue Loco and Out of This World Cha Cha were shared with the anodyne Sonny Rossi orchestra. Across all three albums, the delicious Joe Cuba tracks, mainly mambos and chachachás fuelled by signature vibes and percussive swing, are redolent of Perez Prado and other great Latin stars of the 1950s. Unfortunately, the Sonny Rossi tracks, often with vocals the wrong side of Dean Martin, provide enough cheese to stock a market stall. Apparently, the late David Bowie ‘wanted people to hear musicians like Joe Cuba.’ Thankfully, there's enough of him here to make this a worthwhile and informative release.