Colombia! The Golden Years Of Discos Fuentes CD

It's not a significant overstatement to say that the story of Colombian music in the 20th century is the story of Antonio Fuentes, the founder and owner of two pivotal music distribution sources -- the radio station Emisora Fuentes and the record label Discos Fuentes. An excellent operation from its beginnings in the mid-'30s, Discos Fuentes captured the emerging modernization of cumbia and later vallenato, a collision of forms both urban and rural (or coastal and inland, respectively). Starting in the '40s, big bands led by Lucho Bermúdez and Edmundo Arias earned fame far beyond Colombian borders, and in the '50s and '60s Fuentes' crackerjack house band was led by Pedro Laza and later, the most colorful man in Colombian music, Fruko. (Without those two, even beyond South America, Mexican music today would not be what it is.) This Soundway compilation is invaluable, reflecting the efforts of compiler Roberto Ernesto Gyemant to provide the best that Discos Fuentes has produced, regardless of whether said records have been seen on CD before; unlike Fania or Tico, Discos Fuentes has pumped out so much product that it can be very difficult to distinguish the good from the bad. Although the range of this compilation covers only the '60s and '70s, everyone from Bermudez to Laza to Fruko is presented, and although this isn't meant to represent the most popular music Colombia has produced, it's hard to argue with this being the best. ~ John Bush