Latin rhythms have infiltrated every branch of popular music, but none has had such a wide ranging influence as the rumba. It is this rhythm, combined with the New Orleans second line beat, that formed the basis of the Stax and Motown sound and the more complex rhythms of funk in the 1960s. But where would rock be without the cha-cha-cha? Think Respect, Satisfaction, Wild Thing... The mambo was born in Cuba in 1938, of African and European parentage but 1954 was the year of the mambo dance craze as record companies encouraged their R&B artists to come up with songs in a Latin vein and to include the word mambo in the title. The samba was next. It is the spring in the beat and the almost imperceptible skip at the end of each measure that differentiate it from Cuban rhythms. The repetitive riff making over a groove so beloved of 60’s and 70’s rock springs not from the blues but from Latin song-form and the vamps and montunos found in samba and mambo. What we present here in this collection are 150 songs from artists such as T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Chuck Berry and Ray Charles, all recorded between 1948 and 1962 spread over 5 CDs with 72 pages of illustrations, annotated notes and discographical details. // “I thoroughly recommend this one…all tracks are pretty great… a really excellent compilation” Mark Lamarr // “This is slippery and seductive music with that tricky undercurrrent that rumba beats bring, that will put a smile on your face and dip in your step.” Elsewhere.co.nz // “As a collection to dance to, this is a brilliant idea. Ol! Git down and boogie…er…mambo” Blues Matters