Harlequin Records presents
Xavier Cugat and his orchestra, the way they sounded live and in person at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel during the years 1950-1954. This is Latin big band dance music -- heavy on the rhumbas and mambos -- with a strong jazz influence. Indeed during their best passages
Cugie's crew could easily be mistaken for
Machito & His Afro-Cuban Salseros. Vocalists
Otto Bolivar and
Abbe Lane convey the lyrics in tidy Spanish and accessible English, ensuring acceptance from the audibly wined and dined Truman-Eisenhower era audience. Among many dozens of
Cugat compilations, this one rates somewhere amidst the uppers.