New Releases Thru November 3, 2009

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs are at the end of their 50-date world tour and, on the heels of their current studio release La Luz Del Ritmo, LFC is releasing a collection of fresh takes on their favorite B-sides. There are also two new tracks and a cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up."

It looks like tropical music fans just can't get enough of Gilberto Santa Rosa. In 2008 he released Una Navidad Con Gilberto and the 2005 album Asi Es Nuestra Navidad, recorded with Puerto Rico's El Gran Combo, is a classic. A quick look at the track listings tells me this is a compilation but it is just in time for Christmas listening.

Now here's an album that I'm planning on picking up. Blues legend Taj Mahal together with Los Lobos' guitarist David Hidalgo and Mexican-American grass-roots band Los Cenzontles? I'm betting the album will be chock full of new sounds and surprises.

There's no doubt that merengue is big in Puerto Rico but it's not that often that a Puerto Rican artist focuses on bachata. But then, Joseph Fonseca just loves bachata.

Este Mundo is the sophmore album of Rupa & The April Fishes and, as the album title describes, this could easily be called a world album. The group mixes Gypsy swing, cumbia, French chanson and Indian ragas into a unique blend that's not quite like anything else I've heard lately.

Grammy award winning Flaco Jimenez is one of Tejano music's grand old men and this album is actually a re-release of classic of the genre that was originally recorded in 1992. The list of featured artists is stellar and includes Steven Stills, Linda Ronstadt, Ry Cooder, Los Lobos, Emmy Lou Harris and more.