This album is the only album under his own name, with keyboardist and drummer Ricardo Eddy Martinez handling the direction, composition, and orchestration. His talent is evident in his orchestration work on the album *Los Reyes 73*, which was recently reissued as part of *Mr. Bongo*’s Cuban Classics series. He later went on to work with world-renowned musicians and singers such as Gloria Estefan, José Feliciano, and Chick Corea, and reportedly also worked as a sound engineer in the United States.
The Afro-funk groove “Tambo Iya” (sample_1); the Latin funk track “La 132” (sample_2), featuring cute, full-throated vocals and a meticulously arranged performance; “Este Tumbao” (sample_3), which starts with sexy, cosmic Latin funk before tightening things up with a powerful jazz section featuring organ and saxophone solos, and “Que La Tristeza Se Fue”—which became famous after being sampled and looped right from the start in Jazzanova’s track “Look What You Are Doing To Me feat. Phonte”—among a total of 10 tracks. Fusing funk, disco, orchestral arrangements, Afro-Cuban percussion, Latin breaks, and rich vocal harmonies, this is a masterpiece from 1970s Cuba that was particularly heavily influenced by American and Western music. The packaging, which faithfully reproduces the design of the original Cuban vinyl sleeve, is also wonderful. (Original Japanese text by AYAM)