By Jose R. Rodriguez

When Instant Funk moved from Philadelphia International's TSOP label to Salsoul, all of the pieces fell into place for the band - both commercially and creatively. While its first album, Get Down With the Philly Jump, was decent but uneven, its second and third albums were generally excellent. For Instant Funk, switching labels didn't mean switching producers - the Philadelphians worked with Bunny Sigler at TSOP and continued to work with him at Salsoul. Sigler was the ideal producer for Instant Funk because he really understood what the band was going for: an unorthodox blend of Philly soul/disco and the type of hardcore funk that other cities were better known for. Sigler is a major asset on Witch Doctor, which was Instant Funk's second album for Salsoul and its third album overall. From the sweaty funk of "Bodyshine" (a major hit), "Slap, Slap Lickedy Lap," and "Witch Doctor" to the smooth ballad "I Had a Dream," Sigler does right by Instant Funk on this solid effort.

NYCNYUSA is an improvement over 1976's lackluster Night Fever, but not by much. It suffers from the same problem that plagues many of the albums in the Fatback catalog: While the group has no problem generating solid grooves, they often have trouble translating them into enough solid songs to sustain an album. Inconsistent material continues to be a problem on NYCNYUSA: "Spank the Baby" layers a chant that is inane even by disco standards over a repetitive jam while "Duke Walk" sinks the pleasant quality of its pop-reggae feel with a dull arrangement that lacks any interesting twists and turns. Another problem track is "Cosmic Woman," which fails to make to good on the promise of its interesting title due to uninspired lyrics and a humdrum groove.

Fatback's second album of 1975 is a serious improvement over Yum Yum: the arrangements are tighter, the hooks are stronger, and the grooves keep the listener riveted from start to finish. It downplays the live feel of previous albums like Keep on Steppin' in favor of a more carefully arranged feel that highlights the tasty keyboard and synthesizer work of Gerry Thomas. Raising Hell also produced two major hits for the group: "(Are You Ready) Do the Bus Stop" capitalizes on the dance craze of the title with a steady bass-driven groove that works in layers of keyboards, guitars, and horns to keep things interesting, and "Spanish Hustle" is a propulsive dance jam that alternates synthesizer flights of fancy with intense Latin percussion breaks guaranteed to make the listeners shake their hips.

"Bulletproof Heart" is the 9th studio album by Grace Jones, released on October 13, 1989. The album, co-produced by Chris Stanley, would be her last studio album for 19 years, until she released "Hurricane" in 2008. Only 2 singles were released from Bulletproof Heart. "Love on Top of Love" was chosen as the lead single and received numerous remixes. It met with limited success and only reached modest positions in Italy and the Netherlands. However, the 12" remix of the song, subtitled "Killer Kiss", was a significant club hit in the US. Jones' cover of "Amado Mio", a song from the classic 1946 film Gilda, was released as the final single in 1990. It also made little impact, still reaching the Top 40 in Italy, but placing at the bottom of the German and UK charts. Commercial performance of the album was also poor: it peaked at #55 in Germany, failing to enter charts elsewhere, thus becoming the lowest-charting of all her studio albums and one of her least successful offerings.

Bunny Sigler let his fertile, prolific imagination run wild for his final Salsoul album, "Let It Snow", issued in June 1980 with the end results being fun, funny, and funky. The first single, "Super Duper Super Man," has great cartoonish sound effects and the chant: "I don't like Kryptonite/ but I like Lois Lane and some serious tympani rolls." The snap-laced, quiet storm-ish title track not the holiday standard seductively swirls around in a frosty mix of echoing "oohs" and lazy don't-give-a-darn guitar lines. The track became a steppers standard, so copies of "Let It Snow" maybe extremely hard to find. "Girl You're Driving Me Crazy" skates along on a hi-hat, a sense of wacky humor, and a great horn and string arrangement by Lenny Pakula.

Ray Barretto’s career has been a long and varied journey. Born in Brooklyn on April 29, 1929, he is the quintessential Nuyorican, a Puerto Rican born and raised in New York City. By the age of two, his family had moved to Manhattan’s Spanish Harlem and by seven, the South Bronx.

Ray Barretto’s career has been a long and varied journey. Born in Brooklyn on April 29, 1929, he is the quintessential Nuyorican, a Puerto Rican born and raised in New York City. By the age of two, his family had moved to Manhattan’s Spanish Harlem and by seven, the South Bronx.