Well it's that time of year again when we round up the best releases of the past twelve months.
As always, there were a lot of titles that could have easily been included but for our self-imposed limitation of 25 titles. While we relaxed a prior rule of excluding compilations (there were a few too good to pass up this year: Joe Cuba, A Man and His Music, Venezuela Salsa World Series), for the most part this list is comprised of new recordings. The dreadful economy, while still very much a part of all of our lives, couldn't stifle the creative flow of some of this year's award recipients. The major labels are pretty much done with sponsoring new names, so most of these projects are out-of-pocket works of love and passion. And to those of you to whom this applies, we especially salute you. Enjoy the list.
Oh, one more thing. 20% off all of these winners! One week only.
