As a crate-digging teenage DJ, Gilles Peterson fell in love with Latin music via “dodgy bossas”. A couple of decades later the broadcaster and tastemaker was producing albums in Cuba, forging links between the island’s unexposed young talent and global club culture; “a Buena Vista Club for the 21st century,” as Peterson put it. This double CD handpicks his productions, winding from ambient street noise through polished salsa, elegant jazz piano, storming DJ mixes and drum-heavy rumba. Among the many voices (and handclaps) come jazz diva Mayra Caridad Valdés, the popular Arema Arega (whose Ay is a gem), hip-hopper Danay Suárez and ethereal choirs summoning the spirits on Orisa. A seamless selection of Cuban joys.
