Willie Bobo

If there was ever a testament that good things come from snooping in your mother’s closet, then let it be these lost sessions by Spanish Harlem percussionist extraordinaire Willie Bobo. Wiping the dust off master tapes from sessions Bobo recorded between tenures with the Verve and Blue Note labels in the years 1970 to ’76, his son and sometimes Cypress Hill conga-player Eric Bobo and seminal Beastie Boys producer Mario C. have complied the finest tracks from undoubtedly Bobo’s most complacent time as a musician. Leaving behind the foot-stomping boogaloo sounds of the ’60s that have populated almost every Latin soul compilation, Lost and Found finds Bobo more influenced by the mid-tempo black soul music and the earthy Santana-esque, Latin fusions coming out of America at the time. There is still no lack of sweaty horn workouts, cowbells, and groovy organ like on "A Koko” or "Soul Foo Young,” and Bobo’s talented band-leadership qualities of letting his players shine on solos are all in evidence. However, as "Fairy Tales for Two” and a cover of what Bobo has called his most favourite song ever, Tom Jobin’s "Dindi,” clearly states, this is more of an album of falling-in-love songs.