Panama! 2: Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical and Calypso Funk on the Isthmus 1967-77

1	La Murga de Panama / Papi Brandao Y Su Conjunto Aires Tablenos 3:08
2	Tamborito Swing / Los Silvertones 3:38
3	Flora / Maximo Rodriguez Y Sus Estrella Panamenas 3:49
4	Decidete Mi Amor / Papi Brandao Y Su Ejecutivos 2:58
5	Te Toca Tocar La Tumba / Skorpio 4:35
6	Descarga Superior / Los Superiores 3:59
7	No Llores Porque Me Voy / Idamerica Ruiz 2:58
8	Mi Bella Panama / Los Revolucionarios 3:01
9	Dreams / The Duncan Brothers Edit 4:43
10	Ain't No Sunshine / The Soul Fantastics 3:13
11	Ese Muerto No lo Cargo Yo / The Exciters 3:23
12	La Confianza / Buch Y Los Magnificos 3:03
13	Borombon / Camilo Azuquita 2:51
14	Jazzy / Gato Papacitos 3:00
15	La Escoba / Alfredo Y Su Salsa Montañera 3:18
16	Juck Juck, Pt. 1 / Sir Jablonsky 4:01
17	Love Letters / Lord Cobra Y Los Hnos. Duncan 4:28
18	Ceferino en Salsa / Ceferino Nieto 2:48
19	Si La Vez / Ormelis Cortez Con Su Conjunto Viva Guarare 3:26
20	Piculina / Chilo Pitty 3:13

All Music Guide

Three years after volume one comes Panama! 2. The idea hasn't changed, and the liner notes haven't changed much either (a redux of the previous album's notes, plus new material on Panama's musica tipica). However, they still provide a good overview of Panama's history, society, culture, and music. And that introduction is key to understanding the unusual melting pot that became Panama's music, sucking in the influence of neighboring Colombia, Cuba, the Antilles (for the Panamanians are more closely related to Afro-Antillean peoples than to the Latin American pool), plus the jazz and rock & roll brought in by the Americans. Panama! 2 celebrates the music of the isthmus, still very little known outside the region, with a selection of 20 tracks off 45s salvaged in the 2000s from the basements of local radio stations. Sound quality is occasionally shaky, but connoisseurs will find in these rhythms enough nuggets to compensate for the lack of high-fidelity sound. Most of the music here oscillates between jazz-tinged Latin rhythms and Afro-Cuban songwriting, although you might encounter calypso merging with cumbia or reggae (as in Sir Jablonsky's "Juck Juck"), or the odd influence of psychedelic rock (cuts by los Superiores and the Soul Fanatics, basically rock combos with a timbale player). Just like with volume one, most if not all of the tracks are upbeat, festive, and positive. François Couture