Rating:
Genre: Latin
Release Date: 05/26/2009

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 Prado's "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" had hit number one in 1955.) Recorded as part of a just-signed exclusive contract with RCA and appearing in vibrant sound as part of the label's Living Stereo series, Dance Mania exploded with a series of tight arrangements, propulsive playing, and the features of new additions in vocalist Santos Colón and conguero Ray Barretto (who helped, in part, make up for the recent loss of Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaria to Cal Tjader's group). Puente didn't dilute his sound for Dance Mania -- unlike the many commercial crossover LPs that were released by both established groups and ad hoc studio collectives -- but his hard mambos here were performed at tempos that encouraged dancing by more staid LP-buyers, slightly slower than the high paces of his Tico sides or Palladium shows. Brassy and swinging, yes, and certainly as precise as a great Latin band could get, but not as torrid as Spanish Harlem dancers would be accustomed to. Most were Puente originals, spanning mambo and cha-cha and guaguanco, and Dance Mania built the foundation for great Latin LPs to come. [The 2009 Legacy Edition was a two-CD program, including outtakes and contemporary sides from the original Dance Mania LP as well as the complete sessions from 1960's Dance Mania, Vol. 2.]

~John Bush, All Music Guide

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Ray Barretto - Conga
Tito Puente - Arranger
Tito Puente - Leader
Tito Puente - Timbales
Tito Puente - Vibraphone
Steven Berkowitz - A&R
Bob Ascher - Trombone
Eddie Caine - Saxophone
Julio Collazo - Conga
Santos Colon - Vocals
Alvin Gellers - Piano
Bernie Glow - Trumpet
Joseph Grimaldi - Saxophone
Dave Kurtzer - Saxophone
Gene Rapett - Trumpet
Ray Rodriguez - Bongos
Todd Sommer - Drums
Carlos "Patato" Valdes - Bongos
Carlos "Patato" Valdes - Conga
Mark Wilder - Mastering
Howard Fritzson - Art Direction
Marl Larson - Design
Charles Granata - Liner Notes
Gerald Sanfino - Saxophone
Shepp Pullman - Saxophone
Jerry Rappaport - Producer
Otto Bolivar - Vocals
Allen Lehrfeld - Saxophone
Joe Conzo - Liner Notes
Joe Conzo - Associate Producer
Victor Alves - Vocals
Tony Buonpastore - Saxophone
Leon Merian - Trumpet
Greg Brunswick - Project Director
Adam Farber - Project Director
Larry Moser - Trumpet
Willie "Bobo" Correa - Timbales
Ramon "Mongo" Santamaria - Conga
Sam Scavone - Trumpet

The Sun of Latin Music
    Eddie Palmieri & Friends con Lalo Rodriguez / CD / 1973
Papa Gato
    Poncho Sanchez / CD / 1986
Latin Kick
    Cal Tjader / CD / 1956
Tremendo Cumban
    Machito Y Sus Afro-Cubanos / CD / 1953
Mr. Latin
    Rene Bloch / CD / 2004

Release Date: 05/26/2009
Genre: latin