Champagne’s first song, “Ay Qué Rico,” opens with someone asking “como, Palmieri, boogaloo?” i.e. “what, Palmieri, a boogaloo?” It’s a sly way of referencing how the Latin jazz pianist and future salsa star had famously dismissed boogaloo as “bubblegum” and yet, on this 1968 album, Palmieri is either bending to the demands of the market or perhaps just trolling listeners. Either way, Palmieri proved himself more than capable of cooking up Latin soul on his terms as on the slinky “Ay Qué Rico” and the album’s big stomper, “Twist Africano,” but the album’s more traditional Afro-Cuban stylings are equally compelling, especially the six minute son montuno closer, “Si Las Nenas Me Dejan, Que.”  

– Oliver Wang