Search - Tito Puente :: Tambo

An intense outing with Tito during his heyday!

Captain Opinionated | Los Angeles, CA USA | 07/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am a beginner when it comes to Tito Puente's massive recorded backlog. However, I have accumulated a handful of titles and, personally, have found that the older stuff is the best (not that the man didn't keep up a high standard throughout his long career). This is one of RCA/BMG's "Tropical Collection" titles, along with such CDs as "Cuban Carnival" and "Mucho Puente" (and many others). It was recorded in 1960 and, at first listen, I was a bit taken aback... but in a good way. The percussion is very much the star of this show. I mean, it was always quite prominent (Puente was El Rey del Timbales!) but here it's practically the whole show. This CD is like a collection of drum workouts. Though a big band (featuring Doc Severinsen!) is featured, there is a lot less horn blowin', vocals, and piano playin' than on some titles. But, man, is this band hot! Just think of it this way - on the "greatest hits" Puente titles, you will be hearing great afro-cuban jazz songs with prominent percussion and percussion solos. "Tambo" is much more a drumming showcase that happens to have some songwriting layered around it for the sake of indicating where one title stops and the next starts. As you can see, at the date of this review, this title is out of print, but it is fairly easy to find used. Pick it up... it's one of his better titles!"