Ricardo Ray - Jala Jala Y Boogaloo (1967)

The album "Jala Jala Y Boogaloo" (also known by its full title, "Jala Jala Y Boogaloo Volume 1") by legendary Puerto Rican pianist, composer, and conductor Ricardo Ray and his longtime vocalist Bobby Cruz, released in 1967, became a historic milestone in Latin American music.

This release not only marked the birth of a new style, it turned Ray and Cruz into superstars and became one of the main catalysts for the boogaloo boom in New York City in the late 1960s.

"Jala Jala Y Boogaloo" broke down generational barriers. The old guard of Latin jazz (represented by Tito Puente and Machito) were initially skeptical of boogaloo, but the commercial and cultural success of this Ricardo Rey record forced the entire industry to acknowledge that the rules of the game had changed forever. This disc foreshadowed the emergence of salsa in the 1970s.