Emanating from Cali, Colombia, Grupo Niche are led by Jairo Varela, whose many roles include: composer, arranger, musical director, vocalist and percussionist. They made their recording debut in 1981 with Querer Es Poder. Tomek (the UK salsa broadcas…

Steely Dan--a name derived from a sex toy in William Burroughs's "Naked Lunch"--spent much of the '70s atop the charts with jazzy, smart-ass pop-rock. The brainchild of hipsters Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, Steely Dan was less a band than it was a…

Originally from southern France with family roots in the flamenco tradition, the Gipsy Kings achieved enormous mainstream success in the late 1980s with their flamenco-pop. Details like infectious, rhythmic hand-clapping, rich vocals, and precise gui…