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On paper, the teaming of Latin-jazz veteran Poncho Sanchez with Stax legends Eddie Floyd, Booker T.
Jones, and Steve Cropper on two Floyd classics may have looked like a nifty way to expand Sanchez's
audience while promoting Concord's re-launch of the Stax and Volt labels. But the cover versions of
"Knock on Wood" and the title track are little more than agreeable (Sanchez handles lead vocals,
with Floyd in support). And if you're looking for a lively remake of the Motown classic "Shotgun,"
you're better off with jazz upstart Don Byron's recent version than the one here featuring onetimes
James Brown saxist Maceo Parker. The rest of the album mainly sticks to the pop-influenced sound in
which the conga-playing Sanchez has long specialized--a sound that in combining airy melodies and
arrangements and tight grooves reflects both his California roots and his debt to New York greats
including onetime labelmate Tito Puente. A solid guest vocal by salsa and salsatron star Andy
Montanez might have been even better had he recorded with the band rather than back home in Puerto
Rico. --Lloyd Sachs