Record Rack

Considering that five of the seven tunes here were included in Libre’s 1996 live album, “Muevete,” you would think this package is geared solely to devoted fans of the seminal New York band. But this collection--old recordings that were first abandoned and then overdubbed last year--is an indispensable release that brings with it a world of change. Oquendo’s timbale solos are still liberating in their tasteful restraint, and his lean, mean four-trombone brass section delivers some remarkably majestic sounds. But the ensemble has been enriched by the thorny guitar of Octavio Kotan, the soneo of Jorge Maldonado and the torch-song vocals of Xiomara Lougart. After 27 years of activity, Libre remains the most underrated group in tropical music.

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