Carlos Guedes - Toda America (1992)

Venezuelan harpist Carlos Guedes brings together 15 musicians from eight countries on his Pan-Latin American album, Toda América. Diverse and rhythmic, the music speaks to a cultural common ground, with jazzy overtones and vibrant compositions that feature over 30 different percussion instruments. At the center of the eleven tracks is Guedes's electro-acoustic Venezuelan harp, played with an amazing technical facility which liberates the harp and its percussive capabilities. The lineup of musicians reads like a who's who in Latin-inspired music: Jorge Strunz, Justo Almario, Alex Acuna, Ricardo Silveira and others. The title piece and final track features the impassioned vocals of Luis Enrique Mejia, the Nicaragua-born salsa superstar, ending the album with a sweeping celebration, appropriately in the spirit of this "song of friendship."~Toda America Review by AllMusic