![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/coati-mundi.jpg?fit=640%2C540&ssl=1\" "\\"coati")
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As hype man for the August Darnell\u2013fronted bands Dr. Buzzard\u2019s Original Savannah Band and Kid Creole & the Coconuts, Coati Mundi was a comic-foil sidekick to Darnell\u2019s ladies\u2019-man persona, sort of a Jerome to the Time\u2019s Morris Day. But the diminutive, zoot suited Mundi, born Andy Hernandez, was more than a mere court jester\u2014 officially a coleader of the Coconuts, he\u2019s a multi-instrumentalist (most known for his vibes work), and was the arranger and producer of much of the Ze Records roster. He also scored a number of club hits on his own, notably 1980\u2019s red-hot \u201cMe No Pop I\u201d\u2014but for two decades, he gave up recording in favor of acting. Last summer, Hernandez reappeared with an EP, a teaser for a full-length album, on DJ Spun\u2019s Rong Music label. That LP, Dancing for the Cabana Code in the Land of Boo-Hoo, is finally here\u2014and it was worth the wait.<\/p>\n
Coproduced by the U.K.\u2019s E-Love (with a little help from NYC\u2019s own Lee Douglas, who also designed the spot-on cover), the set sees Hernandez\u2019s lovable-goofball image largely intact\u2014there\u2019s not much subtext to the lyrics of \u201cWanna Go to the Mall\u201d and \u201cI Love My Dog (Do Do Do)\u201d\u2014but this is serious music, an amalgam of Afro-Latin percussion, house-music bump and a studio sheen that\u2019s both dance-floor-friendly and aurally adventurous. \u201cIt\u2019s All About the Money, Money\u201d updates the boogaloo of his native Spanish Harlem for a modern clubbing audience; \u201cVoyage Libertad to the Boat Dance,\u201d marries an Afro-tinged groove to acid house; and \u201cDancing Disco 101\u201d is a dense, percussion-heavy entry in the modern-disco canon. Here\u2019s hoping that we don\u2019t have to wait another 20 years for the next Coati Mundi release.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n