Latin 100 Essential CDs: The Rough Guide

Rating:
Summary: Great things come in small packages
Review: Having a somewhat extensive Latin music collection that includes,45's, 78's, lp's(yes, I can and do still play them), some tapes, both cassette and reel to reel and into the modern digital era formats, I was more than curious to see what was considered "essential." The author, Sue Steward, who also wrote "Salsa, Musical Heartbeat of America," gives a bit of a disclaimer in the acknowledgement by stating the difficulty in selecting 100 essential discs among the thousnds of choices covering so many decades and so many countries aand varied genres. The result is a book that draws heavily on salsa( remember the title of her book) but the contributing specialists reviews of other styles of Latin music gives the book a pretty good balance. The terrific thing is the convenience of this handy mini- pocket book that can fit into the pocket of a mans shirt pocket! You can take this book anywhere and read it anytime to get information on your "unknown discovery" or to read about one of your favorite discs. Each disc is very professionally and competently reviewed. Each review is about two pages and besides the actual music information there are complete biographical backgrounds on the artists, the development of the musical style, including influences and assorted interesting side notes. Since the book is limited to 100 cd's at the end of the review there are a few suggestions for further exploration of either the artist or similar artists within the genre. There is lots to discover in this mini-book. This is a good book for the person looking for some of the best Latin muisc ever, whether the shopping is virtual or real this book will inform and help you make a better decision on your next selection. I have enjoyed reading this book and keep it handy when it comes time to add a new disc to the collection. Curiously I did find a few personal "gems" missing but why complain if what you get in return is learning about what you haven't heard. The musical years covered spans many decades and the styles range from bossa nova to cumbias, salsa to boleros, rocnEspanol to merengue, Latin jazz to Cuban, Tango to folkloric and just about everything else considered Latin. This is a great little book for a great little price. The price is absolutely right and you'll have change from that new colorful twenty to buy your new "discovery" cd in Latin music. There is a small section on websites suggested to buy the discs,which includes Amazon with as Sue Steward says, "seemingly bottomless well of stock."