Continuing the journey started with our ¡Saoco! compilations, the series Saoco Now! presents contemporary covers of classics of Puerto Rican dance music. On this first release, two of the most innovative salsa bands working today join forces to pay homage to maestro percussionist and bandleader Rafael Cortijo, a central figure in the repertoire featured on the ¡Saoco! reissues. One of the great sensations of the current Puerto Rican scene, Orquesta el Macabeo recovers the island’s salsa tradition to update it with new ideas and the energy of its twelve musicians, with backgrounds in punk rock, ska and reggae. After three self-released albums and a Vampisoul compilation (Salsa Bestial, 2013), El Macabeo is back with this cover of ‘Perico’, one of the biggest hits by Cortijo y su Combo con Ismael Rivera, originally released in 1959 on their Quítate de la vía, Perico LP. Formed and based in Richmond, Virginia, Bio Ritmo combines 70s style salsa with different eclectic influences, and are one of the most original bands of the last decade. Representative of Cortijo’s New York period, the Latin funk instrumental ‘Carnaval’ first came out on the album Cortijo y la Máquina del Tiempo / Cortijo And His Time Machine from 1974. Bio Ritmo’s interpretation (taken from 2011’s album La verdad) picks up on the Brazilian and Caribbean rhythms of the original version, adding humorous lyrics born out of the imagination of Rei Álvarez, the band’s singer.