There’s been a wonderful uptick in New York’s weather: sixty-odd degrees, the thick night air is damp and clingy, and people are spilling onto the sidewalks here in Brooklyn. It’s a good night for fire escapes and staying up late. The balmy mood has inspired a tour through the small yet worn “salsa/latin” section of my record collection.

Here’s the best one: Honest Jon’s is an eclectic, history-minded record label based in London and, with Son Cubano NYC, they have delivered a drum-tight compilation of Cuban salsa rarities recorded in NYC during the 1970s (the excellent liner notes will, however, make one think twice about using the term “salsa”). Drop the needle and everything is drenched in electric yellows, shiny chrome, and mint green.

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Henry Fiol – Tiene Sabor

As an amateur listener of this sort of music, I wasn’t quite sure where to turn after keeping Buena Vista Social Club and its attendant artists in heavy rotation; this is an good start. This thoughtfully curated and conceived double-LP is the kind of package that makes this whole business of record-pressing & record-buying seem vitally important, as it dusts off and preserves the legacies of artists like Henry Fiol, Lita Branda, and Armando Armenteros (aka Chocolate). Buy this album so that you can stare at Bruce Davidson’s captivating photograph (detailed above) for as long as you like, buy it for its educational liner notes, buy it so that you may caress the slick dual-texture print job, and buy it for the songs.