Ricardo Ray

This was the band's famous live recording where it found itself at the height of its popularity and in the midst of the 1970s salsa explosion. Dizzy Izzy Sanabria hosted this New York recording (at the time, Ray and Cruz were based in Puerto Rico); the band featured Polito Huertas on bass ("Descarga el Bajo") and performed the unqualified smash "La Zafra." The band's repertoire included plenty of supercharged warhorses to excite the most jaded salsa aficionado. Among the tunes featured here are a few pop standards such as Armando Manzanero's "Yo Se Que Te Amo," Rafael Hernández's "Lamento Borincano," and "Gloria a Dios" (a Spanish version of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's classic "Let It Be"). Few salsa records capture such raw energy; this is among the band's most significant releases and a must for salsa fans. ~ José A. Estévez, Jr., Rovi