Soledad

Originally released in 1970 by little-known Chicago imprint Futuro, ‘Vamonos / Let’s Go!’ is the first and only album recorded by Brooklyn neighbourhood salsa band ‘The Orchestra Soledad’. Led by trombonist and singer Hector Ramos, the music of Orchestra Soledad is characterised by brash and energetic salsa arrangements created by Ramos himself, who also composed (or co-composed) all of the music featured on the LP.

Pascal Michel Obispo (born 8 January 1965 in Bergerac, Dordogne, France) is a French singer/songwriter. Pascal Obispo started singing in 1980. He got his first record deal in 1990, Le long du fleuve. With his second album, Plus que tout au monde, selling over 2 million albums, his songs became a popular success. Some of his most famous songs are "Plus que tout au monde", "Laurelenn", "Tombé pour elle", "Lucie", "Personne" and "Fan". With his 2007 release of Les Fleurs du Bien (a play on Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal) he makes allusions to Rosa Parks, Pablo Picasso and others. He is also well known for his various escapades, his unconservative behavior, his haircut, etc. His name is an anagram of the painter Pablo Picasso. Most of his albums have now sold more than 1 million copies.

Simply one of the greatest live blues recordings ever. Hooker plays alone at Soledad, yet the real thrill is hearing him backed at Greenwich Village's Café Au-Go-Go in 1966 by Muddy Waters and his band, including pianist Otis Spann, unsung harmonica giant George Smith, Francis Clay on drums, and guitarists Sammy Lawhorn and Luther Johnson. All are at the height of their abilities, but it's Hooker who works like a hoodoo conjurer, making misery rain down in "Seven Days" and "When My First Wife Left Me." This August night's reading of "I'm Bad Like Jesse James" ranks among the most intimidating vocal performances ever taped. His guitar and baritone singing sink to rarely heard depths of the blues–that secret place in the music (known only to its absolute masters) where it becomes an elemental force.