Nobody will argue that the material on this second volume of
Greatest Salsa Ever is top-notch. The title, however is extremely disputable, since some of the greatest salsa ever is being performed nightly in New York City, Paris, Miami, Florida, and, of course, in the bars of Havana. The music that is here gets it: there are a pair of tracks from
Willie Colón, including the burner "La Murga de Panamá," the funky "salsa" tune "Plastico" by
Rubén Blades,
Johnny Rivera, and Ray Sepúlveda's "No Vale la Pena," and
Oscar D'León's "Me Voy Pa' Cali," just to name a few. This is a fine collection of traditional and modern salsa. ~ Thom Jurek