Putumayo Presents Latin Beat

Liner Note Author: Jacob Edgar.
Putumayo does its usual thang in compiling a series of global tracks that all represent the inroads made into Latin music by other forms rather than the other way around. Predictably, the results are mixed. These tracks, which come from Cuba, the U.S., New Zealand, Colombia, Spain, Ecuador, and even an amalgam from the U.K., Colombia, and Africa's Congo, all begin as Latin grooves, from cumbias to sons, to merengues and rumbas, and are added to by modern -- sometimes synthetic -- percussion, multi-layered vocals, keyboards, and guitars, while retaining their root Afro-Latin sounds. The best moments here are from Spain's Digitano on "Así Sin Querer," with its trip-hop and DJ beats meeting fado head-on in a seductive, sultry meld; Colombia's Profetas with "Chocolate," which uses rumba, jazz, and hip-hop with a gorgeous collaboration between singers and rappers and numerous instrumentalists; and Cuba's Calle 66 with "Quédate Donde Estás," with its big rhythms above a near traditional son. In a sense, given the name recognition of most of the artists here (all of whom have had hit singles and appear on other comps regularly), this is more for fans of Putumayo than those of "Latin beat." ~ Thom Jurek