Machito, one of the seminal Latin bandleaders of the '40s (and the most exciting), still hasn't gotten his due in the digital age, with mostly scattershot compilations to display his genius for hard-hitting mambos.
La Herencia, a Fania label compilation, is a solid set, although it's not the one a newcomer would want to pick up. Its 15 tracks are all good to great, but all of them were recorded for the Tico label during the late '50s and early '60s, when his influence had already crested. Nonetheless, there's virtually no difference between these tracks and those recorded 20 years earlier, with torrid playing and charts from
Machito's orchestra, arranger
Mario Bauzá, and frequent vocalist Graciela (who was
Machito's sister). ~ John Bush