Tito Puente
Night Beat
Very big-band sounding. Recording quality is good, but there is some distortion on some of the louder (Doc Severinsen's) passages. Mongo's conga playing is (as always) fantastic. All in all a very nice record when in the mood for a touch (and just a touch) of Latin with a lot of big band sound.
Personnel: Tito Puente: timbales, vibraphone; Jimmy Frisaura: trumpet; Carl “Doc” Severinsen: trumpet; Francis Williams: trumpet; Gene Rapetti: trumpet; Myron D. Shain: trumpet; John Frosk: trumpet; Morty Trautman: trombone; Bob Ascher: trombone; Eddie Bert: trombone; Sonny Russo: trombone; Allen Lehvterd: saxophone; Joseph Grimaldi: saxophone; Gene Zuizz: saxophone; Martin Holmes: saxophone; Gene Quill: saxophone; Alvin Gellers: piano; Howard Collins: guitar; Harry Galbraith: guitar; Ted Summer: drums; James William Cobb: drums; Bobby Rodríguez: bass; Mongo Santamaria: congas; Julio Basabe Collazo: congas; Willie Bobo: bongos.
From the Latin Jazz Net review: "Drums and the rhythmic section create an interminable dance that spins like an eternal harmonic and rhythmic braid around the melodies. Each of the melodies are superbly crafted and have been crafted to “sing” in the absence of a vocalist. There is a very real reason for this. Tito Puente had attempted here to create an idiom that has a more pronounced jazz inflection to it."
"“Doc” Severinsen soars with abandon in a tone that is clear and resonant; his annunciation is clear as a bell and he all but steals the show."
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