Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers: Groovin’ High

Pucho serves up an interesting platter of sounds on his latest release. The title cut is arranged as a mambo and the remaining nine tunes include examples of Latin funk, acid jazz, descarga, bolero and cha cha rap [sic]. The cha cha rap number is the overplayed “I Like it Like That,” sung by MC BaBee Power, who also sings the liberation rap lyrics with a wailing background saxophone on “Struggle.” The Latin Soul Brothers include reedman Ed Pazant, trumpeter Alvin Pazant, guitarist “Marvelous” Marvin Horne, vibist William “Yam” Bivens, keyboardist John “Mad Hatter” Spruill, percussionists Ernie Colon, Lawrence Killian, and Rick “Bongo” James, and bassist Jon Hart. New to the group is trumpeter Pamela Fleming, with excellent muted playing on “On the Strip,” and guest percussionist Steve Berrios, who produced this release along with Pucho and Ron Levy. Pucho’s sound is a hybrid composed of Latin percussion, jazz, rock, funk, fusion and anything else he can squeeze in. One thing you can always count on is superb musicianship.

Originally Published June 1, 1998