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PUNTILLITA- "HOMENAJE" (1927-2000)

L. Dequesada | JAMAICA,, NY United States | 07/22/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great CD issued by "TUMI MUSIC LTD" in Britain. The late cuban sonero/singer Manuel Licea aka "Puntillita" (12/4/27-12/4/00) is celebrated as 16 of his old time 50's and 60's recordings with the "orquestas" of maestros Julio Cuevas, Rafael Somavilla and Joaquin Mendivel are included in this CD. "Puntillita" started his singing career in Havana with Julio Cuevas & His Orch. in 1945. This great jazz band already featured the famous Orlando Guerra "Cascarita" and Reinaldo Valdes "El Jabao" as singers, so the addition of "Puntillita" made this band unbeatable. In 1953, Julio Cuevas disbanded the group and "Puntillita" went on to sing with other luminaries like Sonora Matancera, Orquesta Cosmopolita and other groups. In 1959, Cuevas made a brief comeback and of course he featured Puntillita as lead singer. At the time Puchito Records became interested in them and recorded an LP vynil classic featuring Julio Cuevas Orch. with Puntillita entitled "RASCANDO SIEMPRE RASCANDO". This was a star studded group, which included famed sonero Miguelito Cuni in chorus. Some of the Puntillita/Cuevas hits included in this TUMI CD are, "El Golpe de Bibijagua","Tingo Talango","El Marañon", "Chicharron de Palanca", "Lechon y Guanajo","Rascando Siempre Rascando", "A Caballo Me Voy" and "Defiendete". Other hit songs like "Escucha Nena", "Cantinero Mi Cerveza","Asi Es Baracutey","El Saxofon de la Orquesta", "El Guaguanco de Martha" "El Guateque de Don Tomas","Pregon Criollo" and "Bailando Mozambique" also have superb jazz band orchestrations, which make this CD a collector's item. I highly recommend this posthumous homage to one of Cuba's greatest singers."