Dance Mania!

Tito Puente and His Orchestra

album cover

The Most Powerful Puente

Though his forays into Latin jazz were explosive, and his support of singers legendary, timbale master Tito Puente (1923–2000) made his most important contribution leading a dance band. He understood what dancers needed—as a child, he'd won several dance competitions—and during the 1950s heyday of the big Latin bands in New York, his rock-steady ensemble delivered exactly what dancers dancing needed, set after dazzling set of sultry cha-cha and screaming mambo played without a whisker out of place.

Dance Mania!, one of more than a hundred albums in Puente's catalog, is among the first titles that show the leader attempting to replicate in the studio what his band did nightly in performance. It's strikingly simple—verses followed by exchanges with a chorus of backing singers, followed by exciting, roof-raising instrumental mambos that make good use of then-novel stereo separations. Within that basic structure Puente and his musicians open up new worlds: On "Mi chiquita quiere bembe," the verses are in typical cha-cha rhythm, but when they're finished, the band lunges into a riveting African-style triple-meter gallop. Every selection here jumps—there are eloquent solos (see Puente's marimba feature "Hong Kong Mambo") and moments of starched-shirt ensemble execution. Just hearing the introduction to "Llego mijan," you can imagine couples racing to the dance floor and staying there, locked in motion, as long as the music continues. While Puente's Latin-jazz titles in the '70s and '80s offer glossy big-band passages and jaw-dropping percussion fire-works, those isolated displays can't match the steamrolling intensity that defines Puente in his prime. Which is here.

Genre: World, Latin
Released: 1958, RCA
Key Tracks: "Llego mijan," "Mambo gozon," "Hong Kong Mambo"
Catalog Choice: Night Beat
Next Stop: Tito Rodriguez: Live at the Palladium
After That: Eddie Palmieri: La perfecta
Book Pages: 661–662

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Comments:

#1 from Jeff Pinzino - 07/20/2009 10:31

For the cover photo, if nothing else.  Seriously though, this thing spent years at the top of the Latin music charts.  Tell us why.

#2 from ben, Baltimore MD - 02/09/2011 2:44

Would you, or would you not recommend the two disc legacy edition which features Dance Mania Vol. 2?

#3 from Tom Moon - 02/14/2011 10:58

Jeff….with all respect I think the entry does tell why this was a hit and (more significantly) why it is of lasting musical value: It’s a carefully recorded studio account of Puente’s live presentation, which (at this time anyway) was as hard-swinging and exciting as any band in any style.

Ben…the Legacy edition offers probably the best sonics of any version available now. And Vol. 2, while not as intense as Vol. 1, does contain some ripping solos.

Hope that helps and happy exploring…
TM

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