Cuban Jazz

The virtuosic Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba's first recording to be issued in the U.S. is still one of his best. With strong accompaniment from bassist Charlie Haden (one of his early champions) and drummer Jack DeJohnette, Rubalcaba is in frequently exciting form throughout these...

This is a excellent single-disc sampler of what Mongo Santamaria was like before "Watermelon Man" catapulted him into the charts. Some of the Fantasy tracks sound like the musicians were just off the boat from Havana, and are a bit primitive in contrast to the brassy Santamaria of the...

Dance Mania, Tito Puente's best-known and best-selling album, came ten years into his career, but at a time (1957) when the craze for mambo and Latin music was beginning to crest. (Another landmark LP, Pérez Prado's Havana 3 A.M., had been released the previous year, and...

While the music that came to be termed "salsa" originated in Cuba, Puerto Ricans have been among its strongest supporters. One New York-reared puertoriqueno who soared to the top of the salsa world in the 1950s was timbale player/vibist Tito Puente. Boasting such early Puente gems as...

A stunner from Puente's golden age, this 1957 recording brought together Tito, Mongo, Willie Bobo, Aguabella, and Julito Collazo on percussion with vocalists that included Mercedita Valdez, in seven wonderful cuts of traditional and (then) contemporary Afro-Cuban skin-on-skin. Then as an...

The great Latin bandleader Tito Puente has long been one of the pioneers in fusing bebop with very danceable Latin music. On this Concord disc, Puente plays vibes and timbales and utilizes an 11-piece band featuring trumpeter Jimmy Frisaura, Mario Rivera on tenor, soprano and flute, pianist...

Although he was never inactive, the 1980s found Tito Puente in a bit of a renaissance. His exciting Afro-Cuban jazz band had found a home on the Concord Picante label, and his music was increasing in popularity again. This particular CD has a stronger than usual repertoire, including "Take...

Percussionist Poncho Sanchez has long led one of the top Latin jazz groups, succeeding his former boss, the late Cal Tjader. On this enjoyable release, Sanchez features plenty of solos from Justo Almario (on alto, tenor, and flute), trumpeter Sal Cracchiolo, and trombonist Art Velasco, and the...

Poncho Sanchez's long string of recordings for the Concord Picante label are all easily recommended to fans of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz. On this fine effort, Sanchez's octet welcomes guest Tito Puente (heard on timbales) to "Ti-Pon-Pa" and "Lover, Come Back to Me."...

At the time that Sabroso was recorded, Mongo Santamaria's group was essentially a charanga band with two trumpets added, a combination that works quite well. The group has superior playing by Jose "Chombo" Silva on both violin and tenor (helping "Para Ti" to become a...

Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" was a gigantic hit for Mongo Santamaria in 1963, doing for him in the '60s what Pérez Prado's big mambo hits did for him in the '50s. Naturally, then, the follow-up LP to the single is devoted to 12 airplay-length tracks...

Due to the straight-ahead nature of the music on this CD, plus trumpeter Arturo Sandoval's self-restraint, I Remember Clifford has been many jazz purists' favorite among the trumpeter's releases. Sandoval, who is joined by pianist Kenny Kirkland, bassist Charnett Moffett, drummer...

This is a particularly special Poncho Sanchez recording, for the conguero's popular Latin jazz band is joined by the great tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris on four songs. Harris is so strong on his "Cold Duck Time" and Art Farmer's "Happy Blues," "Rapture,"...

In 1994, Bear Family released Top Percussion/Dance Mania on one compact disc, which contained two complete albums originally released on RCA -- Top Percussion (1957), and Dance Mania (1958) -- by Latin bandleader and percussionist Tito Puente. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide

Something of a re-release of the Dance Mania album(s) that Tito Puente released in the '60s, this album includes all of the master takes (those included on the albums) as well as a large number of outtakes. On top of this, a few of the master takes here include extraneous recording time...

In 1993, Bear Family released Night Beat/Mucho Puente, Plus, which contained two complete albums -- Night Beat (1957) and Mucho Puente (1964), both originally released on RCA -- by Latin jazz giant Tito Puente on one compact disc. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide

Tito Puente, the godfather of Latin jazz, celebrated 50 years in music with this sizzling CD. "Be-Bop" is launched with a duel between trumpeters Bobby Shew and Maynard Ferguson. Underrated alto saxophonist Bobby Porcelli and tenorman Mario Rivera make this version of...

The skimpy booklet accompanying this compilation is of no help whatsoever -- no personnel, no dates, no sources -- and one can only presume from some of the vintage instruments and rhythms that these tracks were probably recorded in the early '80s before Arturo Sandoval's defection and...

Our resident Latin jazz classicist comes up with a good concept -- evoking the memories of non-Latino Afro-Cuban music pioneers Stan Kenton, Shorty Rogers and Cal Tjader -- and better still, delivers great music unfettered by any hint of routine. The Sanchez octet does so by simply being itself,...