A stunner from
Puente's golden age, this 1957 recording brought together
Tito,
Mongo,
Willie Bobo,
Aguabella, and
Julito Collazo on percussion with vocalists that included
Mercedita Valdez, in seven wonderful cuts of traditional and (then) contemporary Afro-Cuban skin-on-skin. Then as an unexpected gift, there is a seven-minute Latin-jazz suite featuring
Puente's considerable jazz-arranger head and a powerful band with
Doc Severinson on lead trumpet. ~ John Storm Roberts