MEDIA CONTACT: Robert Sax SAX PR/Marketing 818-508-7660 robert@saxpr.net BOBBY MATOS’ “RITMO & BLUES” REVEALS THE LATIN HEART OF DOO WOP AND R&B New Release Features Joe Bataan, The Mighty Echoes, Candi Sosa and Estaire Godinez “Ritmo & Blues” is the latest album release from Latin music master Bobby Matos and his Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble. Composer and percussionist Matos revisits the pop music of his New York youth, revealing the strong Afro Latin “ritmos” at the heart of timeless doo wop, R&B, and soul tunes. Matos has enlisted a star-studded line-up of guest vocalists that includes soul/boogaloo icon Joe Bataan, salsera Candi Sosa, doo wop wizards The Mighty Echoes, and Latin soul diva Estaire Godinez. “Ritmo means rhythm,” explains Matos. “You can hear the essential “clave” ritmo in New Orleans music, which was brought to the Crescent City by Cubans plying the Caribbean trade routes. From New Orleans it spread throughout the United States to influence many American musical styles. Doo wop and early rhythm and blues used lots of Latin rhythms.” Matos grew up singing in doo wop groups in the apartment hallways and on the street corners of the Bronx and Brooklyn. Mambo and jazz were also popular then and Matos, like New Yorkers of all ethnicities, enjoyed all of them. “People listened to doo wop and mambo and jazz in the same breath, “ recalls Matos. “ It was just music. They didn’t have walls between them. Everybody borrowed from everybody else.” If it was up to Matos, there would be Afro Latin rhythms in all kinds of music. In this recording he gets his wish, exploring the Latin heart of great doo wop, R&B and soul tunes. “These numbers I chose already had a Latin tinge when they were done originally,” says Matos. Nationally-known vocal group The Mighty Echoes bring an authentic street corner vibe to Matos’ arrangements of such doo wop classics as “Hey Senorita,” “Lover Boy” and “Shoo Doo Be Doo.” The album also features soulful vocals from Candi Sosa (Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me”) and Estaire Godinez (Ray Charles’ “Unchain My Heart.”) Boogaloo/soul legend Joe Bataan sings lead on the late Horace Silver’s “Señor Blues” (also presented in as an instrumental.) Matos himself wails son-style on Peggy Lee’s signature torch song “Fever.” The album also features “Bruca Manigua,” the seminal Afro Cuban lament from Arsenio Rodriguez; a tipico Afro Rican bomba from conguero Robertito Melendez and Latin jazz standard “Tin Tin Deo” by Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo. “Ritmo & Blues” has something for everyone who loves the great American pop music of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Bobby Matos has revealed its Latin heart, its soul and its ritmo, and there’s plenty to go around. RITMO & BLUES will be available in stores and online at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bobbymatos and http://www.bobbymatosmusic.com ABOUT BOBBY MATOS Bronx-born Bobby Matos began playing music by beating on pots and pans in his grandma’s apartment. He went on to take informal backstage lessons with legendary conga drum masters Patato Valdez and Mongo Santamaria. Later he studied composition and arranging at the New School and Manhattan School of Music. After touring and recording with Ben Vereen, Bette Midler, Fred Neil, Jim Croce, Ray Rivera, Joe Loco, Miriam Makeba and many other top artists, Bobby moved to Los Angeles. There he began experimenting with an Afro Cuban Jazz band that allowed him to blend (and bend) musical elements from Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Wayne Shorter, Eddie Palmieri with the rich legacy of Afro Cuban music. More information is available at http://www.bobbymatosmusic.com # #