Salsa Clásica

From Eddie Palmieri's electrifying "Azúcar" to Cheo Feliciano's sinuous "El Ratón" and Rubén Blades' epic masterpiece "Pedro Navaja," the songs in this section showcase salsa as one of the most sophisticated genres in all Latin music. Contemporary salsero Marc Anthony delivers a raucous cover of the Héctor Lavoe classic "Aguanile."

A revised version of Eddie Palmieri's "Café" demonstrates that he is still one of salsa's most transcendental performers. Ray Barretto's "Llanto De Cocodrilo" is '70s hardcore salsa at its best. Larry Harlow's "Arsenio" celebrates the roots of tropical music through a poignant tribute to Cuban bandleader Arsenio Rodríguez.

Lesser known nuggets like Andy Harlow's "La Lotería" and Willie Rosario's "Oriente" show that songwriting craft and sensational playing went far beyond the genre's biggest stars. Eddie Palmieri's older brother Charlie, who died in 1988, is presented here as an almost-forgotten giant.

Classic salsa is the kind of music that belongs to a certain period of time, with a certain kind of energy that represented a generation. It was a sound that had its roots in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the rest of the Caribbean, but came together in New York in the early '70s. After the mambo dance craze, the big bands got smaller, the venues got edgier, the lyrics got more political, and everybody got busy dancing.