Fania Records releases ‘Our Christmas Thang’.

Fania Records announced the release of five Christmas recordings from the 1970s golden age of salsa that blend traditional Island rhythms with urban New York beats. Starting with Willie Colon and Hector LaVoe’s now classic, Grammy nominated and still hot selling “Asalto Navideno” to the bomba down boogie of Ismael Rivera’s “Feliz Navidad” there’s something for everyone from dancers to lovers to children to brothers. From vocalist Cheo Feliciano’s Fania All-Star studded line up to a duel between the elder Daniel Santos and a young Hector LaVoe, these recordings make the holidays hot.

What makes these releases still relevant today are their cultural and historical significance to America’s largest and fastest growing ethnic segment: Latinos. These recordings were released during a time of social, cultural and political change and isolation for many Americans in the U.S. But for Latinos, particularly those in New York, these productions were life affirming, unifying and empowering badges of identity that helped define second and third generation Hispanics. “Asalto Navideno” in particular brings home to the inner cities the centuries old traditions of Christmas caroling where practitioners go from home to home bringing music as gifts and receiving down home hospitality, food and drink in return.

Remastered from the original multi-track recordings, these CDs are valued cultural resources for today’s Latino families. Young parents looking to share their roots will find many of the lyrics to traditional parrandas, aguilnaldos, decimas, plenas, bombas and guarachas right here on these classic recordings by some of the best Latin music exponents. The reissued releases feature bilingual liner notes accompanied by a photo from the original album covers. Hector LaVoe and Willie Colon, for example, are featured as unorthodox Santas climbing out of a tenement apartment onto the fire escape with a bagful of goodies each. A literally graphic and urban take on the rural “parrandas” of centuries past whose surprise element of caroling from home to home (like Halloween without the tricks) coined them as “asaltos” meaning “a hold-up” in English.

“Asalto Navideno” features the “cuatro” work of the legendary King of the singing ten stringed Puerto Rican guitar, Yomo Toro. This work was followed by “Asalto Navideno II” that, contrary to most sequels, is equally as enjoyable as the first. Vocalist Cheo Feliciano’s “Felicidades” boasts a who’s who of Latin music with Fania All Stars Ray Barretto on congas, Roberto Roena on bongos, Larry Harlow on piano and Bobby Valentin on bass among others. From “Mapeye” to “El Parrandero” some of the tunes introduce traditional Puerto Rican plenas, bombas or aguilnaldos before flawlessly transforming into swinging salsa for the dancers.

“Feliz Navidad” features Hector LaVoe at the height of his solo career alongside veteran international singer Daniel Santos. Yomo Toro also plays an active role as performer and composer. A saucy duel between LaVoe and Santos reflects how tradition gets handed down to the next generation. While El Sonero Mayor, Ismael Rivera brings it back home even in New York with this bomba driven “Feliz Navidad” where you can taste Puerto Rico’s sabor!