The Rough Guide to Salsa is a world musiccompilation album originally released in 1997. Part of the World Music NetworkRough Guides series,[1] the album gives broad coverage to the salsa genre of Latin America, focusing on classic styles.[2] Seven of the fourteen tracks are by Cuban musicians, five are Colombian, and one each is Venezuelan and American. The compilation was produced by Phil Stanton, co-founder of the World Music Network. Liner notes were written by Tom Andrews.[3] This was the first of three similarly named albums: the second was released in 2007; the third, in 2012.
The album received positive reviews. Raymond McKinney of AllMusic called it a "superb introduction".[4] Michaelangelo Matos of the Chicago Reader felt it went down "as smooth as ice cream", praising its lack of drum machines.[2]
