"When I first received this CD of ʻurban latin musicʼ from Switzerland, I assumed it would be like their famous Emmental: cheesy and full of holes. However, what unfolded was confident, multi-faceted and played with some serious cojones y sabor!
Featuring four Cubans, a Sicilian, a Brazilian and a Swiss they sing in Spanish, Portuguese, English and Italian.
LARIBA covers a variety of urban latin styles, mixing in elements of reggae, cumbia, hip-hop, son, mozambique, samba-reggae, baiao, salsa and latinjazz.
Whilst this might sound like a recipe for a dodgy international fondue, in fact each track is utterly convincing. The nearest comparisons would be Sargento García and Orishas, but thereʼs a lot more buried within LARIBA
Glyn Phillips WorldMusic.co.uk