The Great Scottish Latin Adventure" is the latest release from Salsa Celtica. While some of their contemporaries have struggled with cultural music integration, this Edinburgh based band has actually been able to blend Celtic and Salsa music into a sound of its own.

The CD is eleven tracks full of hip-shaking numbers. The selections take you from fast-paced frenetic salsas highlighted with a brass and bagpipe section to sultry Latin big band sounds. The first track "Rumba Escocia/Cro Chinn T-Saile" hits you immediately with bagpipes and congas giving you a taste of what is to come. "Yo Mi Voy" is a sparkling salsa that highlights the band's command of the salsa style. "Vampiras" is a mood piece with a surprisingly well-suited bagpipe solo. The album is rounded out with "El Capitan". It is a short and fast salsa that is not the best choice for this CD's closure but does tie everything up nicely.

Toby "El Leon" Shippey on trumpet and Galo Cerón who plays the guitar and trés are a solid writing team. Penning the majority of originals on the CD this duo is able to meld many Latin and Celtic styles into twelve to fourteen piece arrangements. Doug "El pulpo" Hudson accentuates the groove with a steady hand on the congas. Fraser Fifield stands out with his mastery of the bagpipe and an arsenal of wind instruments.

"Salsa Celtica" is a great name. What bonds these two styles is the depth of the percussion. Also, the bagpipes over the rumbas blend well with the brass. By the end of the CD though I was longing to have a second helping of the Celtic elements. We've got the salsa on the CD so how about a little more of the Celtica? The live shows contain powerful visual elements from both traditions such as kilts, violins, congas and maracas. The CD however, conveys the feeling that the band is so excited to be playing Latin sounds that they have allowed it to eclipse their Celtic influences and the second half of their name.

So what do we have here? A European music group spices up their act with Latin players and rhythms of the African Diaspora. Okay, nothing new here. It is no longer enough to put musicians from different musical worlds together on stage and call it an original. Nor does the mere act of combining different cultural styles make a song "cool and interesting". The real test question is A, are the artists collaborating equally, B, does each artist's style balance well with the group sound, or C, do each of the integrated styles have a chance to be heard distinctly. The answer is D, all of the above. In this latest recording all of the tracks capture el sabor Latino. I'm ready to fill in D with my #2 pencil so turn the volume up on the Celtic side and Salsa Celtica will have it all.