From its underground roots in the nightclubs of 1970s New York, disco music had strong connections to the city’s Latino community. They provided many musicians, producers and labels making the music, as well as a large section of the audience dancing to it. ‘The Rough Guide to Latin Disco’ features some of the legendary artists, musicians and tracks from the golden era of disco music, the 1970s, alongside some of today’s new Latin disco inspired bands, musicians and producers.

Includes a FREE download card allowing you to download the full album
Latin percussion instruments were at the heart of the disco sound and the strong influence of salsa can be heard in many tracks. One Latin music record company, Salsoul Records, would go on to be described as the greatest disco label of all time and, as disco conquered the world, Latino musicians in the Caribbean, South and Central America were swept along by it and began producing their own variations on the Latin disco theme.

Post-2000, with the nu-disco movement in full swing, a host of new young artists began to produce music heavily influenced by the classic 1970s Latin disco sound. We present two of these new generation bands on the compilation, Los Charly’s Orchestra from the UK and Jungle Fire from California. These tracks feature the trademark Latin disco sound – a four-to-the-floor beat, fingerpopping basslines, scratchy syncopated rhythm guitar and the heavy Latin rhythms. All proof that Latin disco is still alive today four decades on since it first exploded in the clubs of 1970s New York.