Various Artists: Latin Party

Jeff Dayton-Johnson reviews Putumayo's Latin Party.

The redoubtable Putumayo programmers have already released ¡Baila! A Latin Dance Mix (2006), ¡Salsa! (2009) and Afro-Latin Party (2005), as well as nationally-themed but party-ready collections from Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Are they perhaps scraping the bottom of the Latin party barrel with Latin Party? Ah, that would be to mistake the inexhaustible profundity of that barrel.

As it is, Latin Party conveys a convincing party message. It also conveys an interesting geographical message: namely, that one of the most important countries in the Latin music universe is the United States, and New York City in particular. In part, this is because so many Latin American musicians are gathered there, playing music from so many veritable Latin American cities. Thus, José Mangual Jr. sings on "Son de Nueva York," led by his uncle and city employee Luis: "Aunque el son es cubano, lo tocamos en Nueva York"—"though the son is Cuban, we play it in New York."

But it's not just that; the United States is and has been a tremendous site for synthesizing and innovating Latin music styles, as evidenced on this collection by Brooklyn Funk Essentials' "Big Apple Boogaloo" or "Mi Gente," by A.B. Quintanilla II & Kumbia Kings of Corpus Christi, Texas.

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