¡Bailar!

Coming out of the melting pot of New York City in the early 70s, Harlem River Drive were formed by pianist Eddie Palmieri and included both Latin and Black musicians playing a multi-cult stew of Latin, Funk, and Jazz. There had already been the whole Boogaloo (or "Latin Soul") craze in the late 1960s which produced fabulous records by the likes of Joe Bataan and Ray Barretto with hard-driving Latin beats and (mostly) English vocals, but Harlem River Drive were the first to really try and fuse the two styles together. They only made one album which has a bit too much lengthy jamming for my tastes but there are gazillions of really great compilations of this stuff which is about the greatest party music ever made - you'd have to be dead from the waist down not to respond to these grooves. This track is available on the excellent Broasted or Fried and other good 'uns include Nu Yorica! and Yo! Hot Latin Funk from el Barrio.

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Seeds of Life - Harlem River Drive