Once resettled in Lima, Peru, in 1974 after spending some time playing in a jazz quintet in Berlin, sax player Nilo Espinosa would put together the Nil's Jazz Ensemble, a top-notch array of local talent. They recorded one single album (1976) that remains not only as one of the grails for collectors of Latin-American jazz but also as an outstanding piece of music on its own. Most of the line up of the ensemble were also part of Sangre Joven, a side project to release covers of international disco and funk hits for Discos MAG. A full album and a single were released under that moniker in 1975. "Zamba Zamba" is a true-to-the-original cover version of the song "Samba Samba" by Colombian brothers Elkin and Nelson, who moved to Spain in the '70s and recorded a couple of albums with the famous singer Juan Pardo on the production duties. "Lindo Caballito," on the flipside, is an up-tempo Latin track for the dance floor that had been previously recorded by Enrique Lynch and Grupo Ecuación. It includes elements of descarga and boogaloo but with a funky rock twist.
A | Zamba, Zamba |
B | Lindo Caballito |