1996- De Allá Pa’ Acá - In 1994, a group of Puerto Rican all-stars had released an album of songs written by Cubans called "De Aquí Pa’llá" and in response, El Tosco produced this is extremely interesting album, similar in concept to Juan Ceruto’s all-star tribute to Juan Formell, "Gracias Formell", but in this case, it pays homage to an entire country rather than a single artist. The disc features NG La Banda as the backup band for an all-star front line of singers and soloists, including Calá, Mena, Angel Bonné, Aramís Galindo, Aymee Nuviola and Issac. Issac uses his own rhythm section and his track, "Y Llorando me Dormí" , also appears on his own disc "Exclusiva Para Cuba" which we’ll discuss in great detail in our Issac section. "De Allá Pa’ Acá" is the last album with Calixto Oviedo on drums and the only one with Jimmy Branly, who split the drumming chores between them. The "Presentación" and "Despedida" are both full-length original arrangements by Tosco, and the rest of the songs are famous Puerto Rican songs rearranged by Tosco, Germán Velazco and Joaquín Betancourt, who will also be covered fully in our Issac section. The 10-minute "Presentación" starts with the sound of the ocean and an AM radio playing short snippets of the Puerto Rican songs by the original Puerto Rican artists. This gives way to a spoken introduction by Tosco and then an extended and interesting arrangement with lots of jazzy horns and Timba vocals featuring each of the singers. The main theme begins as a reworking of the melody from "Llegó la Hora" from "La Bruja" but with interesting new harmonies. The coro at 4:39 is a strong new hook and there’s a nice long Changuíto solo at 6:21. While much of the album isn’t Timba per se, the singing, playing, and arranging are exquisite.