Tito Puente 320

Tito Puente was never one for half measures, and even in death there's no modesty involved, as the label calls him King of Kings. It might be an exaggeration, but only a slight one, and it gets the attention. Still, as the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and there's a hearty meal here, albeit one missing one or two choice dishes, like Puente's original version of "Oye Como Va," a song that indirectly brought him a whole new audience. However, "Honk Kong Mambo" is here, "Dance Mania," and "Dance of the Headhunters," so it's hard to find too much fault with the disc's 21-track selection. While the man wasn't shy about having his timbales, or himself, front and center, he truly was a driving force in his music - and, as this CD shows, he knew how to write more than his share of good tunes, too…

This Concord CD was Tito Puente's 99th as a leader and the music is particularly strong. Four jazz standards alternate with a quartet of Puente's originals and Chucho Valdes' "Cha Cha Cha," all of which are potentially good vehicles for jazz improvisations (although "Ode" and "Lambada" are dominated by group vocals). There are plenty of fine solos throughout by the five horn players and the three or four-piece percussion section keeps the rhythms infectious. In the world of Latin-jazz, Tito Puente has had few peers.

Album recorded in a special live session held one night in December 1959 in the Grand Ballroom of Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel, now extinct since 1986, at the town of Liberty, near New York. Before an enthusiastic audience of 1,200 people Tito Puente conducted his orchestra Tito that night creating a specific program dedicated to dance in which joined two pieces specially created and dedicated to the hotel complex. This is a rare and disappeared recording monographically devoted to dance cha cha.

The king of the Latin-American dance field is Tito Puente. Once again, the diminutive maestro demonstrates his dominance with this new recording of popular Latin-American rhythms. In this exciting outing, Tito Puente and his orchestra lay down a driving irresistible beat that moves from beginning to end in a pulsating performance. Tito Puente and his orchestra create an added appeal with their ensemble singing which lends an authenticity to the music. Their vocal performance like everything else sparkles with vitality.

Ernesto Antonio "Tito" Puente (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000) was an American musician, songwriter and record producer. The son of Ernest and Felicia Puente, native Puerto Ricans living in New York City's Spanish Harlem, Puente is often credited as "The Musical Pope", "El Rey de los Timbales" (The King of the Timbales) and "The King of Latin Music". He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz compositions that endured over a 50-year career. He and his music appear in many films such as The Mambo Kings and Fernando Trueba's Calle 54. He guest-starred on several television shows, including Sesame Street and The Simpsons two-part episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?". His most famous song is "Oye Como Va"

Tito Puente - Quatro: The Definitive Collection (2012) {5CD Box Set, Sony Music Latin 88725469882 rec 1956-1960}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.02 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 401 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 502 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1956-60, 2012 Sony Music Latin | 8872 546988 2
Jazz / Latin / Cuban Traditions / Mambo / Afro-Cuban Jazz

Quatro: The Definitive Collection assembles four truly classic Tito Puente albums recorded between 1955 and 1960 for RCA, and adds a disc of outtakes, alternate takes, and rarities in a lavishly designed limited-edition box set. The box is 6" x 6" with each album housed individually in a thick cardboard sleeve with back and front facsimile cover art. These four albums were cut in chronological order: Cuban Carnival (1956), Night Beat (1957), Dance Mania (1958), and Revolving Bandstand (1960), the last recorded in collaboration with the Buddy Morrow Orchestra.

Tito Puente has long championed Latin-jazz, a combination of Latin percussion and rhythms with bebop-oriented jazz. This release from the Concord Picante label serves as a perfect introduction to his music. For this date Puente (who performs on timbales and marimba) uses six horns, piano, bass, synthesizer and three other percussionists to play everything from "Donna Lee" and "Stompin' at the Savoy" to his own exotic originals.