Rating:
Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 01/21/1992
Run Time: 34:05
Originally released under the name
The Exciting Tito Puente Band in Hollywood in 1961,
Puente Now! The Exciting Tito Puente Band is an ironically named time capsule of the state of
Latin jazz in the early '60s. Although the New York-based
Puente is of Puerto Rican descent and most often worked in an Afro-Cuban style, the big buzz in
Latin music at this time was all Brazil, all the time. The success of
Black Orpheus and the attendant interest in
samba (soon to mutate into
bossa nova) colors this entire album, including a lovely rearrangement of the soundtrack's centerpiece tune,
"Carnival." Other highlights include the frenetic
"Baila Pachanga," based on a short-lived Afro-Cuban dance craze;
"Guarija Flute," a showcase for flutist
Rolando Lozato; a mellow but effective
samba-fied reworking of the standard
"April in Paris"; and
"T.P. on the Strip," an odd little theme song that sounds like a collaboration between
Desi Arnaz and
Esquivel. This is very much an album of its time, and certainly not among
Tito Puente's finest efforts, but it's an interesting time capsule of its era.
~Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
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