For 'The Ansonia Years 1969-1971' the Vampisoul label made a selection from the work of percussionist Rafael Cortijo, who together with Francisco 'Kako' Bastar (Francisco Angel Bastar, 1936 - 1994, was a timbales, conga and bongo player, composer and band leader who, mainly in the 1960s, had a big following in New York, Puerto Rico and Panama) belonged to the cream of Puerto Rican bomba and plena musicians. The innovative part of Cortijo and Kako's music lay in the fact the duo chose not to play their bomba and plena on the traditional barriles and panderos, but instead opted for the use of Afro-Cuban instruments like congas, timbales and bongos. The tracks on this excellent compilation were all distilled from 'RitmosY Cantos Callejeros', 'Noche De Temporal' and 'Vol. 2', three albums Cortijo recorded for the New York based Ansonia Records label in the late nineteen sixties and early seventies. ¡Muy sabroso!