Disc 1 - Unreleased works 1989 - 1996:

1. COMMITMENT (John Calloway) arr. J. Calloway
2. GIANT STEPS (John Coltrane) adapt. by W. Wallace
3. PERSEVERANCE (John Santos) arr. W. Wallace
4. OYE MIS CONSEJOS (Tomás Alejandro Valdés)
5. TUMBANDO (John Calloway) arr. J. Calloway
6. CIRCLE (John Santos) arr. W. Wallace
7. HACIA EL AMOR (John Santos) arr. Rebeca Mauleón
8. DEVUELVEME LO MIO (John Santos) arr. Oscar Hernandez
9. KONGO (Trad. Afro-Cuban) arr. W. Wallace / J. Santos
10. A LOS BAILADORES (John Santos) arr. J. Calloway
11. OMODÉ (Trad. Afro-Cuban) arr. W. Wallace / J. Santos
12. HEARSAY (John Santos) arr. J. Calloway

Disc 2 - 20th Anniversary:

1. HACIA LA LUZ (John Santos) arr. J. Calloway / J. Santos
2. ALL RELATIVE (Jeff Cressman) arr. J. Cressman
3. SEARCHIN' (John Santos) arr. J. Calloway / J. Santos
4. PEQUEÑA AMALY (John Santos) arr. J. Calloway
   Spoken text written and performed by Rico Pabón
5. LA MARAQUERA (John Calloway) arr. J. Calloway
6. NO ENTIENDO LA PALABRA TENER (John Santos) arr. J. Calloway / J. Santos
7. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS (Raye / DePaul) arr. D. Wolf / Machete
8. CAMBIA EL CANAL (John Santos) arr. J. Calloway / J. Santos
   Spoken text written and performed by Jerry Joel Medina Carrión
9. EL CHANGUÍ DE PERAZA (John Santos) arr. J. Calloway / J. Santos
10. ATARDECER MATANCERO (Wayne Wallace) arr. W. Wallace
11. LA JUVENTÚD (John Santos) J. Calloway / J. Santos
    Spoken text written and performed by Rico Pabón

Produced by John Santos
© 2005 Machete Records

For Amaly Celeste Santos Salazar (May 17, 2004 - June 17, 2004)
and Aleeya Haylene Rodriguez (Feb 27, 2005 - March 7, 2005)

It was 1985. The Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble, as we were known for the first two years, was quite excited and honored to be playing our first major concert with special guest, tenor titan Joe Henderson at the Victoria Theater for the San Francisco Jazz Festival. Then as now, the music gave us identity, place and purpose and we realized that it served the same functions for many, whether or not they were musicians. Although at the time I couldn't imagine us doing anything else twenty years later, I'm a little surprised, somehow amazed, and certainly grateful that we weathered those first twenty years. But one thing is still clear - the music is whop we are. It's not a hobby or a task. It's how we express our deepest concerns.

Machete was conceived on the premise that we would consistently compose and arrange original music, and we've adhered to the premise from the beginning. We documented most of that original repertoire by recording in spite of nearly non-existent record label support. This 20th Anniversary CD set represents a cross section of that work throughout our evolution. The earlier recordings on the first disc (1989-90) are from our large ensemble days when we regularly used at least five wind instruments, and vocalists on most of the material, along with the full rhythm section. Current Macheteros: John Calloway, Wayne Wallace, Melecio Magdaluyo, David Belove, Paul Van Wageningen, John Santos, and sometimes Orestes Vilató, were all part of that era. Rebeca Mauleón, Bill Ortiz, Jeff Cressman, Mario Abruzzo, Jesus Diaz, Ramon Estevez, Sal Núñez and Roberto Quintana also put in a lot of time with us during that stage.

The band downsized in 1996, due mostly to economic reasons, but also because we made a conscious move away from dance music to explore and widen our compositional element and to attempt to create a unique niche in the field among many dance bands. Ron Stallings joined us at that time and John Calloway filled the piano chair as Rebeca left to raise her family and begin a solo career. The conspicuous absence of the trumpet in the smaller ensemble also challenged us in terms of voicing, composition, arrangement and performance. But alas, with the lines between jazz, dance music, and concert music being far from clear, our dance roots called us again. We crystallized our current lineup with the addition of Murray Low and Orlando Torriente in 2000 as we returned to a more balanced repertoire and garnered our first Grammy nomination for SF Bay in 2003 - no small feat for an independent artist-run label.

(John Santos, from the liner notes)