The Peruvian band Black Sugar, the brainchild of Victor "Coco" Salazar and  Miguel "Chino" Figueroa, was formed in 1968 under the name Los Far Fen, mainly because the group had a Farfisa organ, a Fender bass and amplifiers as their main electronic instruments.

Los Far Fen recorded three 45 rpm records with six original compositions, pop tunes and ballads. All the eraliy tracks featured the talented arrangements of "Coco" Salazar and the inspired organ and keyboard solos of "Chino" Figueroa; also determined the future musical direction of the group and their natural ability to play Latin Funk. The band had a singer, a rhythm section with Latin percussion, and a brass section (trumpet, trombone, alto and tenor saxes). 

  In 1970 the group was given the name of Black Sugar by Jaime Delgado Aparicio, a jazz piano player and arranger, who was at the time the artistic director of Sono Radio, a Peruvian record label.

Delgado Aparicio, recognizing the talent of the young musicians, gave the group an opportunity to record a long play in 1971. Original compositions like "Too Late", "Viajecito" and "The Looser" made this LP an immediate best seller. Black Sugar "Black Sugar" was sold in all South America. There was a release of the LP in USA by a Miami based label.

    The success of Black Sugar was not due to luck or marketing. Their members were some of the finest, if not the best, young musician from Peru. The arranger, "Coco" Salazar was also a fantastic guitar player; Miguel "Chino" Figueroa was the composer of almost all the original songs by Black Sugar, besides playing keyboards, he was also an inspired organ player; Jose Cruz was one of the most promising young jazz drummers; it is hard not to mention the rest of the musicians, players like Roberto Valdez, Luis Calixto, Antonio Ginocchio, and the rest of the group deserve an extensive description of their abilities.

  The last musician I want to mention is Coco Lagos, king of Latin Percussion in Peru in the 70’s. His playing is featured in all the songs. Black Sugar recorded a second LP, also for Sono Radio, in 1972, and their last recording for Corona Records, a 45 rpm, in 1978. The second LP features more original composition than the first one, also the playing and the soloing show musical maturity. Tracks like : Fuego, Kathy, Checan, All your Love , the beautiful arrangement to Stevie Wonder "Don’ t You Worry About a Thing", etc....make this LP a jewel. Their music has been reissued by Lazarus Audio Products from Burbank, California.

Definitely their style is unique, with influences from groups like Tower of Power, El Chicano,  Blood Sweat and Tears, and Chicago mixed with a Latin Funk flavor. At the end, the music speaks by itself; Black Sugar was a world class Latin funk band that was not marketed properly, and never got the American public, otherwise you all will be dancing to their music.

The CD version of this recording contains the best tracks from their first recording, all tracks from the second LP, and five bonus tracks not available on the LPs.

Factory sealed, brand new CD, released in 2005. Music by Peruvian studio musicians