Featured artists: Montego Joe (leader); David "Mousie" Edmead (piano); Nick Kirksey (piano, vocals); Joffre Marchand (trumpet); Myles Matthews (bongos, timbales); John Moody (bass); Stafford Osborne (trumpet); Allen Ray (flute); Nelson Sanamiago (sax- Alto); Antonio Santa Cruz (vocals, cowbell); Andre Strobert (drums); Dennis Taitt (guitar); Sam Turner (conga, timbales). "This Latin soul group led by master conga player Montego Joe as part of the Harlem Youth program of the 60s is a fantastic mix of funky bass, heavy drums, burning horn lines and soulful vocals. Quite simply one of the great Latin releases of all-time. Includes the monster tracks 'Welcome to the Party,' 'Feed Me Good,' and 'Oua-Train.' Digitally remastered. Manufactured in the USA by the original label. New digipak format." "The Har-You Percussion Group's self-titled album stands as a testament to how exciting and profound music education can be for kids. Imagine creating this album as your homework assignment? That's just what these eleven 16-19-year-old boys did under the guidance of Jamaican-born percussionist Montego Joe. Latin, Cuban, jazz and blues influences combine to create their boogie-down melting pot of rhythm that keeps the feet moving. Tracks like 'Welcome to the Party' and 'Feed Me Good' are exciting dance numbers. In contrast, 'Outa-train' is an impressive tribute to Coltrane featuring Nelson Sanamiago on alto sax. This is a rare album where a musical informs its powerful sounds." -- Ryan Randall Goble, AllMusicGuide

HAR YOU PERCUSSION GROUP - Sounds Of The Ghetto Youth LP on ESP-Disk 1067 ORIGINAL

This super-rare legendary Latin Funk release originally came out on ESP circa 1969/1970. Although the title says Percussion Group, this is actually a Latin Soul group led by master conga player Montego Joe as part of the Harlem Youth program of the 60's......""..... A fantastic raw mix of funky bass, heavy drums, burning horn lines and soulful vocals, this is quite simply one of the great Latin releases of all-time. Includes the monster tracks "Welcome to the Party," "Feed Me Good," and "Oua-Train....." Again, this is one of the Rarest and Best Afro-Latin-Jazz-Funk Lp's around! Montego Joe wrote two of the tunes as well as writing the "liner notes" He became involved with "Harlem Youth Opportunities, Unlimited" (Haryou Act.) in 1965, and was the groups 'mentor' for many years. There are some 11 regular members all between the ages of 16 -19, as well as 4 others who sat-in as the 'horn' section. Tracks Are : Feed Me Good , Barrets Bag , Ngoma , Oua-Train , Welcome To The Party , Santa Cruz , and Tico. Original ESP release, not the re-issue of the ORO - 5 press on Ubiquity Records. The address shown on the label is 290 West End Ave, NY NY 10023, the business address of ESP in 1973/74, to the best of my knowledge. I believe this is the rarer press. Here's your chance to own an Insanely Rare Sought After AFRO LATIN FUNK Original !!

"HAR-YOU PERCUSSION GROUP" Album Art by Dan Prothero of Fog City Graphics. Their super-rare legendary Latin funk release originally came out on ESP in 1969/1970. Although the title says Percussion Group, this is actually a Latin soul group led by master conga player Montego Joe as part of the Harlem Youth program of the 60's. (Alto legend Jackie McLean worked with the group at one point earlier). A fantastic raw mix of funky bass, heavy drums, burning horn lines and soulful vocals, this is quite simply one of the great Latin releases of all-time. Includes the monster tracks "Welcome to the Party," "Feed Me Good," and "Oua-Train." ORIGINAL LINER NOTES BY MONTEGO JOE: If you will recall, several years ago there were the Harlem riots, and problems with youth. It was necessary to come up with a plan for organizing the youth of Harlem in such a way that they would receive training, respect and the living conditions which are essential for creative lives. It was at this time that a carefully planned program came into existence. Its name was "Harlem Youth Opportunities, Unlimited", HARYOU ACT. I came into this program in 1965 rather reluctantly. I had been asked by Mr. Julien Euell who was then Executive Director of the Arts & Culture Division of HARYOU ACT. Mr. Euell felt that with my professional experience I would be a great help to the black youth of Harlem, especially those who were deeply interested in music. My assignment was to teach percussion, both Afro and Jazz. I decided to combine both. After three or four years of training and trying to develop these young men for the outside commercial world, I suddenly decided that they were ready to record an album, one they would be really proud of. It would be a great musical experience. It would bring long range satisfactions. The present Executive Director of HARYOU Arts & Culture, Mr. Leonard Parker, and I approached Mr. Bernard Stollman about the idea of recording these young men. He felt it was an excellent idea. And of course it was agreed that the monies earned as royalties would go into a scholarship fund. In this album there is a great variety of music, most of it based on Afro-Cuban Blues, and Jazz themes. Most listeners would never imagine that the young black boys and Puerto Ricans were teenagers, and here is another surprise. Those of you who are used to hearing the type of music in this album, (Afro-Cuban and Latin), would be astonished by the fact that most of the young men on this album are Afro-Americans. Through my guidance and playing experience in this area of music, we were able to come up with what I consider a very exciting and colorful musical album. The ages of these young men range from 16 to 19 years. Vitality, versatility, depth, excitement, color and shading. . . all of these are in the music. It will be a great musical experience for those of you who will buy and listen to this album. Most of the tunes were written by Nick Quirks and David (Mousie) Edmead. Although we are a group, I the instructor, and the eleven young men on this album-Puerto Rican and Afro-American- I consider all of us a spiritual family. They have a tremendous love and respect for each other, a closeness that is just there and is expressed most fully when they play together. I would like to go on record as saying that even though these young men have taken themes form Latin, Afro-Cuban Jazz and Blues, it's their music. Almost all the tunes were created by them. They set the rhythms and sounds and melodies, and when they recorded, it happened. When there's that interaction (and there always is) it's their music.

A fantastic mix of funky bass, heavy drums, burning horn lines and soulful vocals, this Latin-soul group was the exciting result of the Harlem Youth Act of 1964. Led by master conga player Montego Joe, this ranks as one of the great Latin releases of all-time and has become a highly-sought after classic amongst DJs, dance enthusiasts, and record collectors. Digitally remastered in digipak format, Songs from the Ghetto Youth with the monster tracks "Welcome to the Party," "Feed Me Good," and "Oua-Train". As a bonus, there is a track where leader Montego Joe reminisces about the HAR YOU project.