Celia Cruz and the Fania Allstars in Africa

This is the very first (1974) well produced film of the earliest appearances of the Fania All Star family. It includes all the afro Caribbean greats from Celia on down all recruited by Johnny Pacheco, including rare appearances by Jorge Santana and Hector Lavoe. For anyone who wants to see the top Fania recordings live, this is a must. It is also available on DVD, which is how I got to see it. The video is of excellent quality and the camera work is very good shifting from riff to riff as the "montuno" sections of each song begin the call and response from each part of the band. This is real Latin jazz at its very best! Anyone who has followed the history of Latin jazz knows that the artists featured were at the top of their game when this concert was filmed. People like Nicki Marrero, Roberto Roena and the great Ray Barreto on percussion and all together at the same time. The best singers:Ismael Miranda, Ismael Quintana, Santos Colon, and Hector Lavoe. Pupi Lagarreta and Yomo Toro on strings and cuatro and guitar. On piano is the legendary Larry Harlow who keeps rhythm and clave along with the percussionists and was one of the most studious of all jazz musicians when it came to afro cuban music. He himself lived in Cuba two years studying different Cuban rhythms and clave. So if anyone is a lover of jazz and especially Latin jazz, try seeing this piece of musical history.