Barbés Records is a new label associated with the Brooklyn club of the same name. Its focus, which mirrors that of the club, is on original and idiosyncratic approach to tradition. Be it Balkan, Latin, Americana, Klezmer, Jazz or pop music, its mission really is to put out music that seems to have artistic relevance to the people producing it.

Barbés features terrific material like The Roots of Chicha, Juaneco y Su Combo, Very Be Careful and Chcha Libre.
Click for the Barbés catalog of titles.

Welcome to iASO Records – Music for the soul! iASO specializes in Latin & World music. All our music is recorded the original way: LIVE, which makes it fresh and soulful. The LIVE recording permits band members to communicate and build off of each other. We also use no time keeping device (click-track), which means that in our recordings, the tempo of a song can change slightly in different parts of a song – depending on mood – thus permitting a nuanse of musical expression not practically obtainable in track by track recording.

iASO represents some amazing Dominican music: Puerto Plata, Joan Soriano, Bachata Roja and more.

Click for the iASO catalog of titles.

Cumbancha is a new record label founded by Jacob Edgar, an Ethnomusicologist and music producer who for the past eight years has been the head of music research and product development at famed independent record label Putumayo World Music. It has been Edgar’s job to travel the world in search of exceptional artists and songs for Putumayo’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful compilations of music from all over the globe. Over the years, Edgar kept coming across artists he felt deserved wider recognition and assistance in bringing their music to the world stage, and he decided to form Cumbancha to address that need. “I believe exposure to music from different parts of the world can help open a doorway to other cultures,” insists Edgar. “Listening to music is an excellent way to make a connection with people who are very different from yourself, and it can create a common ground that overcomes some of the barriers that separate people of different walks of life.”

Cumbancha represents Ska Cubano, Novalima, Sarazino, Luisa Maita and more…

Click for the Cumbancha catalog of titles.

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We are delighted to include the Blanott catalog from Tomas Einarsson.

The Icelandic bass player/composer Tómas R. Einarsson (1953) studied with classical bass players in Reykjavik and in Copenhagen 1980-84 and has since been one of the most active jazz musicians in Iceland, performing mainly with his own groups, as well as visiting soloists (a.o. the late Chet Baker and Kenny Drew).

He has recorded 13 records with his own music and performed at several European jazz festivals, The Kongsberg Jazz Festival, Berliner JazzTage and the Glasgow Jazz Festival, to name a few, and in 2006 his Latin group performed both at Moscow´s main jazz venue, Le Club, as well as in the historical Casa de la Amistad in Havana.

His first Latin jazz record was Kúbanska, recorded in 2002. American critics had praise for the music: “It´s a funny thing, all of this Latin Jazz coming from such remote places. But when it´s played that well, who cares?” (C. Michael Bailey: All About Jazz). In 2003 he went to Cuba to record the album Havana, which received two prizes at the Icelandic Music Awards. Einarsson´s next Latin release was Romm Tomm Tomm, recorded in 2006 in Reykjavik and in Havana´s EGREM studios, with 14 musicians. It was welcomed in Iceland by both critics and record-buyers; the Cuban critic Ricardo Alonso Venereo praised the energy and the supreme skill of the musicians (El Habanero 21/11 2006) and Peter Watrous, a critic of jazz and Latin music in the New York Times, called it “a beautiful, weird hybrid out of the Cuban diaspora.” (Descarga.com 6/2 2007)

Two of Einarsson’s tunes appear on the compilations DJ El Chino’s Solar Latin Club Vol. 1, and Putumayo Presents Latin Jazz, where Einarsson is the only European included, in a company of people like Tito Puente, Machito and Ray Barretto.

A remix album of Einarsson´s Latin music was released under the title RommTommTechno. The participants were from Iceland, Britain, Germany and the US and include Moonbotica, Mark Brydon (Moloko), Matthías MD Hemstock, Tom Pooks, Hólmar Filippsson, Namito, Thor, DJ Margeir and people from the Icelandic bands GusGus and Trabant.

More recent albums include Live! and Trúnú, both available via the link belowl.

Click for the Blanott catalog of titles.

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We are delighted to include the Muziq catalog from New York.

Muziq Inc. Records was founded in 2004 by Ernie Acevedo, President, Angelo Gonzalez, Vice President and Jr. Rivera, Assistant Vice President. Muziq Inc. Records emerged after Conjunto Imagen had recorded several releases with the recording labels J&N Records and Platano Records. After the record business started to decline, record companies were extremely hesitant in producing new recordings. This was our opportunity to start our own label.

After producing our first release under the Muziq Inc. Records label, we decided to open
our label to other artists, such as Ralphy Santi (Todavia Tengo Ansia ), Frankie Morales and Mambo of the Times Orchestra (A Toda Velocidad), CharanSaIsa (Para Bailar Y Gozar!) and Jenny Colon (Ahora Sí ). Muziq Inc. Records is venturing into releasing recordings not only of the Salsa sound, but also Merengue, Reggaeton, Hip Hop and Rap as well.

Click for the Muziq catalog of titles.

We are delighted to include the Ubiquity catalog from the California. With start-up capital of one thousand dollars and little knowledge of the record business, the Luv N’ Haight record label (named after the Sly and The Family Stone song) was launched. In 1993 the company incorporated as Ubiquity Recordings releasing an instant hit-record from a then unknown DJ called Greyboy.

Since then Ubiquity has grown into a company with several imprints: Luv n’ Haight remains the home for re-issue of rare groove gems with close to 60 releases, CuBop (the stuff you’ll find on elWatusi) is the Latin jazz arm with just over 40 releases, and Ubiquity has over 250 releases ranging from hip-hop to funk to electronic music. With a worldwide distribution network, and around 350 releases the label is constantly striving to live up to its name, originally chosen because the label wanted to make unheard music available everywhere.

In 2005 Ubiquity moved its main HQ and warehouse to Costa Mesa, while Vice-President Andrew Jervis stayed in the Bay Area to handle A&R and oversee operations. Nowadays Ubiquity releases are available in digital format on the labels own site as well as all major digital outlets worldwide.

We are delighted to include the Ubiquity catalog from the California. CuBop (the stuff you’ll find on elWatusi) is their Latin jazz arm with just about 40 releases by names like Bobby Matos, Francisco Aguabella, Jack Costanzo, Papo Vazquez, Snowboy (pictured left) and many others.