Color de Trópico Vol 3

Another varied collection from 1960s and 70s Venezuela courtesy of the duo El Drágon Criollo and his partner El Palmas, record shop and label proprietor. The principal content, five versions of period Anglo-pop and rock, are quite fun, a potpourri of Hispanified Beatles, Mamas & the Papas, Beach Boys, Bobby Vee tributes, plus one truly eccentric item by a combo named the Pets, built around a funeral parlour organ and bells, some screeching psychedelic guitar and a strangely mesmerising bass drum pulse. More interesting musicologically is an irresistibly catchy number reminiscent of a lowland cowboy harp joropo, enlivened by tooting sax and jangly electric keyboards.

The really good stuff consists of three salsa-era tracks, a sphere in which Venezuela rivalled Colombia and New York. There’s a fabulous stripped down guaguanco for changui-like electric guitar and percussion by the Príncipe y su Sexteto, an exhilarating take on ‘Guararé’ by sax king Johnny Sedes, and a blast of excellent Fania-style salsa, rich in trumpet and trombone, by the pleasingly named Los Megatones de Lucho. A text with limited info on these illustrious artists seems to be available on platforms like Bandcamp, but more detail and some photos would make the selection better value, if the exotic reptile and his hand-clapping sidekick could bear it in mind for Color de Trópico 4. Maybe a less bland title too, while they’re at it…