Black Sugar - Viajecito (Complete recordings 1970-72)

Black Sugar, the brainchild of Victor “Coco” Salazar and Miguel “Chino” Figueroa, was formed in 1969 under the name Los Far Fen, mainly because the group had a Farfisa and a Fender amplifiers as their only electronic amplification equipment. Los Far Fen recorded three 45 rpm records with six tunes: original compositions, pop tunes and ballads. […] In 1970 the group was given the name of Black Sugar by Jaime Delgado Aparicio, a jazz piano player and arranger that at the time was the artistic director of Sono Radio, a Peruvian label. Delgado Aparicio, recognizing the talent of the young musicians, gave the group an opportunity to record a long playing in 1971. Original compositions like “Too Late”, “Viajecito” and “The Looser” made this LP an immediate best seller. Black Sugar “Black Sugar” was sold in all South America and there was a release of the LP in USA by a Miami based label. The success of Black Sugar was not due to luck or marketing. Its members were some of the finest, if not the best, young musician from Peru. The arranger, “Coco” Salazar was also a fantastic guitar player; Miguel “Chino” Figueroa was the composer of almost all the original songs by Black Sugar, besides playing keyboards, he was also an inspired organ player; Jose Cruz was one of the most promising young jazz drummers. […]

Black Sugar recorded a second LP in 1972 [which] features more original composition than the first one; also the playing and the soloing show a bigger musical maturity. Tracks like “Fuego”, “Kathy”, “Checan”, “All your Love”, the beautiful arrangement to Stevie Wonder’s “Don’ t You Worry About a Thing”, etc... make this LP a jewel.

Definitely their style is unique, with influences from groups like Tower of Power, Blood Sweat and Tears and Chicago mixed with a latin funk flavor. In the end […] Black Sugar was a world class latin funk band.» (George Bonilla, Incarock)

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