Three very interesting Cumbia vinyl releases are now available at Amoeba. Each one with it different takes on the Latin Music genre that only seems to get stronger as others start to fade into obscurity.



From Peru, we have Los Jharis, Los Creadors Del Sonido De La Carretera Central, out on Masstropica Records. These gems by Los Jharis reflect a period in the eighties when Cumbia had the time to travel outside of South America and returned as Sonidero, with its Sound System shout-outs and echo effects that reminds me of the great Jamaican Sound Systems. With this newer element, Los Jharis sound is straight from outer space, with all the Cumbia rhythms and surf twang that one expects from a good Chicha release.

Also included with the LP is a bonus seven-inch of Sensacion Shipibo, playing what they called Masha music, a Peruvian style of Cumbia from Pucallpa, where the Shipibo-Conibo people are located. They are the indigenous people that lived along the Ucayali River in the Amazon rainforest. The two tracks on the seven-inch are in Spanish but usually the group sang in the Shipibo language. Whether intentional or not, listening to this, I can see the connection between early Chicha and the likes of people like Ecuador’s Delfín Quishpe are doing today.

When I play tracks from last years Quantic Y Los Miticos Del Ritmo, Hip-Hop En Cumbia during my DJ sets, it still blows some club goers minds. To hear Dr. Dre or Missy Elliot in an authentic traditional Cumbia style is a mini- mindfuck. Some people have asked if perhaps those Hip-Hop artists borrowed those licks from old Cumbia songs! That is a testament on how well England's own Will Holland (Quantic) pulled it off.  Here is another collection of traditional Cumbia from Los Miticos Del Ritmo, this time along with covers of Queen, Michael Jackson and The Abyssinians are some original songs that sound like they could have been made in the Discos Fuentes studios back in the day. The combination of great Colombian musicianship and Holland's vision makes for another club classic. (Not to mention that Holland is becoming a mean accordeon player himself) This is not another mash-up or remixes of classic Cumbia tracks. Los Miticos Del Ritmo will do for retro-Cumbia what Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and Hepcat did to revive Soul and Rocksteady.

Over the years I made it a habit to dig through all the used Electronica 12”s to perhaps find a lost worldly gem. I’ll usually take a gamble on any used 12” that usually flirts with some sort of World Music theme. I look for key words such as “Afro,” “Brazilian” and “Latin” if I don’t already know the artist. A few years back I found a 12” from a label called Sofrito Discothèque. It looked cool so I bought it even though I had never heard of the label. The single was called Music Is The Word. It was a mixture of Latin, Afrobeat and Caribbean rhythms. I am so glad I took a chance on that single! I became a fan of the label and it became another go-to label along with Bastard Jazz, Freestyle and Raw Fusion in finding World Music edits and jams.

2011 finds a great pairing of two labels -- Strut Records, which has been releasing World Music heat for over a decade, has paired up with the Sofrito crew (Hugo Mendez, Frankie Francis and The Mighty Crime Minister) in releasing Tropical Discotheque. What I like about this compilation is that it mixes both vintage World music tracks and tracks made recently by newer artists. Vintage bangers from Banda Los Hijos De La Niña Luz and Mighty Shadow are joined by newer tracks from Frente Cumbiero and Quantic Y Su Conjunto Los Miticos Del Ritmo. On top of that, a few of the Sofrito edits are thrown in for good measure. The flow of African, Latin and Caribbean jams works together quite nicely, like a meal at a fusion restaurant that doesn’t take the grittiness away from the original dish when combining it with another culture’s flavor. In other words, it doesn't suck.