This is the music born of the love affair of the electric guitar blues and the Afro Cuban Rhythms played with the Congas adding sex, dance and excitement to Rock music.
In the early sixties the Mission district (San Francisco), where a young Mexican teenager and future rock star, Carlos Santana, grew up, kids gathered in the park to play music. It came naturally to play the new music of rock & roll with the conga players who added the Afro Cuban beat.
At home his parents' music of Cuban rhumba, mariachis and rancheras was integrated with the music he listened to on their radio favourites programmes of Blues, Rock & Roll, Motown & Stax music and the Rock music coming from England with the Beatles, Kinks, Stones and later on with Jimi Hendrix, Sly & the Family Stone and the San Francisco own home-grown psychedelic music scene of Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. Put them all together, mix them well in the perfect doses and new music is born.
One of the first hybrids of Rock was called Latin Rock. In the uptown of NY, Latin music had already been mixed with Soul music and Rock & Roll in the creation of the Boogaloo.
The new Latin Rock was a more bluesy version of Latin music and also more guitar leaning than the Boogaloo, which is more close to the Soul music. Soon the Boogaloo and Latin Rock became a music mixing all their elements as more complex percussion units were mixed with Rock guitar and Soul.
When you hear Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones or watch Soul Sacrifice by Santana at the Woodstock festival you know this more percussive music is exciting and made for dance.
It is when Rock recovers its Roll as Joe Big Turner would sing 'Shake, rattle and roll.' The playlist of this show includes influential music that preceded this genre and some of the most vibrant Latin Rock pieces. Latin Rock was an important musical genre to invigorate the status and cultural heritage of the Spanish-speaker communities in the US (Mexican, Puerto Ricans, Cubans or Dominicans)
Music.
1- Louie Louie - RICHARD BERRY & THE PHAROAHS (intro) (1957) (US)
2- Loco Cha Cha Cha - RENE TOUZET (1956) (CUBA)
3- Farmer John - THE PREMIERS (1964) (US)
4- 96 Tears - QUESTION MARK & THE MYSTERIANS (1966) (US)
5- Candombe - LOS SHAKERS (1968) (URUGUAY)
6- Chicano Power - THEE MIDNITERS (1967) (US)
7- Soul Sacrifice - SANTANA (live at Woodstock August, 16th, 1969) (US)
8- Meshkalina - TRAFFIC SOUND (1969) (PERU)
9- Viva Tirado - EL CHICANO (1970) (US)
10- Spill the Wine - ERIC BURDON & THE WAR (1970) (UK/US)
11- Oye Como Va - SANTANA (1970) (US)
12- Guajira Sicodélica - FLASH & THE DYNAMICS (1971) (US)
13 - El viajecito - BLACK SUGAR (1971) (PERU)
14- Heavy Duty - THE HARVEY AVERNE BARRIO BAND (1971) (US)
15- Más Zacate - AZTECA (1972) (US)
16- Oye Mama - MALO (1972) featuring Jorge Santana (brother of Carlos) (US)
17- Got this Happy Feeling - GUETTO BROTHERS (1972) (US)
18- Bailando Despacio - KATUNGA (1973) (ARGENTINA)
19- Sapo’s Montuno - SAPO (1974) (US)
20- Mira pa’ ca - CHANGO (1975) (US)
21- Guarafeo - JOSE “CHEPITO” AREAS (1974) (NICARAGUA/US)
22- El Narco - BROWNOUT (2007) (US)
23- La Bamba - LILA DOWNS (2004) (US)
Jazz Matters
Jazz Matters is a not-for-profit hobby project that I’m extremely proud of.
It began life in May 2021 as NuDirections, a weekly radio show on a London community station. That spirit of discovery still runs through everything I do.
But today, Jazz Matters has evolved into a global podcast platform for Jazz and World music lovers — reaching over 40,000 open-minded listeners across 57 countries on more than 24 platforms.2025/6 marks a new era. My love of music has always gone beyond Jazz, so I’ve created two distinct but connected spaces here
Jazz Matters: Podcasts, Playlists and Music Videos.
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I’m also preparing a full digital relaunch from my new studio, from 1st May 2026, then every Jazz Matters podcast, mix, and special will stream exclusively from my website—no third-party platforms and no algorithms. Until then, you can listen here and on 24+ podcast platforms.
Alongside the music, you’ll find in Jazz Lines, my platform for blogs, interviews, gallery, and pulse that links to things that catch my ear and eye. A bold new chapter begins soon. New location. New music player. New studio.
Jazz Matters. Because the music — and everything around it — truly does.
Enjoy the music I love