In 1966,
Ramsey Lewis changed up his winning live piano trio format at Cadet to include a big band. Produced by
Esmond Edwards and conducted and arranged by
Richard Evans,
Wade in the Water was a surprise hit; it's title track reached number 19 on the pop chart (ahhhhh, the days of great AM radio when such a thing was possible). So
Lewis had no need to rock the boat all that much on this follow-up, and used the same team for
Goin' Latin. The boogaloo craze was taking over the East Coast at the time, and while
Lewis was still rooted in Chicago, he got around on tour.
Edwards and
Evans brought
Lewis' great trio (with
Cleveland Eaton on bass and
Maurice White on drums) again, and augmented the proceedings with horns, percussion, electric guitar, and even strings. The result is an album that is every bit as strong as its predecessor.
Evans' arrangements and bottom-heavy soulful sound mix well with
Lewis' indulgence in bossa nova, discotheque boogaloo, and Latin soul-lite on this set. The set's opener, "Hey Mrs. Jones," is a I-IV-V blues progression layered with wild bongos and congas in tight boogaloo fashion; there is also a small string section playing the changes and the horns playing the vamp. It's heavy, fat, and smokin', and sets the tone well.