Salsoul

This 1973 set from Latin-soul singer, musician, producer and songwriter Joe Bataan is an important and influential album, while also being an absolute joy too. Bataan’s clever blend of salsa and soul — hence the album name — helped inspire the Salsoul record label, while the bongos, timbales, congas, claves, cowbells, shakers, cabasa and güiro of Salsoul were a big influence on disco’s use of Latin rhythms. Salsoul features straight-up salsa tracks like “Mi Nube” and “Muchacho Ordinario,” and the funky-wah-wah-salsa of “Fin,” while songs like “When Sunny Gets Blue” and “Johnny” exemplify Bataan’s new Latin soul sound, melding jazzy chord changes, big soul horns and R’n’B arrangements with his highly syncopated and sophisticated Latin rhythm section. “Latin Strut” and “Aftershower Funk” meanwhile, are classic steaming hot Latin funk/proto-disco instrumentals. Salsoul is euphoric, impassioned and irresistibly dance-able.