I’ve been listening to a great CD with an incredibly obscure collection of late 60s and early 70s recordings from Panama a lot the last few days, gathered, remastered and released by a small company called Soundway. The title, Panama!: Latin, Calypso and Funk on the Isthmus 1965-1975, pretty much tells you want you’re going to get. Nothing earth-shattering here (Panama certainly didn’t have the kind of musical scene as Brazil in the late 60s), but this is solid vintage tropical soul/funk: something most of never get to hear, and well worth listening to if you’re is spending any time in Panama and musically curious.

I’ve looked around a bit, and I don’t think you’re ever going to hear any of this music any other way: it’s all been saved from history’s trash bin by a dedicated collector of obscure records who happened upon a great stash in David (the city about 1 hour from Isla Palenque). Usually I’m just fine nowadays getting my music via mp3s. But I bought the physical CD this time(from amazon), and am glad I did: the liner notes are well researched, well written, and have lots of great vintage photos of live shows, concert posters, and album covers. All this gives you the context to more fully appreciate the music and mentally get back to the tropical groove of the early 70s.