Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
For more than 50 years, Tito Puente, the great bandleader and master of the timbales, was among the most important figures in Latin dance and Latin jazz. By the time he died, on May 31, 2000, he'd made more than 130 recordings, the greatest of them cut during the 1940s, '50s, and '60s for RCA. This set features the 108 tracks Puente cut for the label from 1949 to 1960, and it shows how he skillfully crossed the boundaries between Latin, jazz, and popular genres. All the founding fathers of Latin music are here: percussionists Mongo Santamaria, Ray Barretto, and Willie Bobo, as well as composer-arranger Chico O'Farrill and Dominican flutist Johnny Pacheco.

The heart of this affordable, six-CD collection is the mambo, the Afro-Cuban dance Puente spread throughout the world--from New York's famed Palladium to Paris--with classics such as 'Ran Kan Kan,' 'Picadillo,' and 'Hong Kong Mambo' (the lattermost with Puente on marimba). Another Cuban dance rhythm, the cha-cha, was prominent in Puente's book. His rendition of bassist Cachao's catchy 'Chanchullo' may have been the model for Puente's megahit, 'Oye Como Va,' taken subsequently to greater heights as a Latin rock classic by Carlos Santana. Puente grew up in Harlem, and his jazz chops are in full effect on his vintage, cornerstone Afro-Cubop takes on Billy Strayhorn's 'Take the A Train,' 'Tuxedo Junction,' and 'That Old Devil Moon.' --Eugene Holley Jr.

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Disc 1:

1. Ran Kan Kan
2. Guayaba
3. Chang
4. Lagrimas Negras
5. Arinaqara
6. Tuxedo Junction
7. Lare Lare
8. Swinging The Mambo
9. Donde Estabas Tu
10. Take the 'A' Train
11. Picadillo
12. Mi Chiquita Quiere Guarachar
13. Cuando Suenan Los Tambores
14. Cao Cao Mani Picao
15. El Baile Del Pinguino
16. Candido
17. Para Que Sufran Los Pollos
18. Tu No Eres Nadie

Disc 2:

1. Cuban Nightmare
2. Por Tu Amor
3. Mambozooka
4. Mama Inez
5. Elegua Chango
6. Cual Es La Idea (What's The Idea)
7. Pa' los Rumberos
8. Guaganco Margarito
9. Yambeque [Mambo Yambu]
10. Havana After Dark
11. Flying Down To Rio
12. Lotus Land
13. Lucky Dog - Puente, TitoPuente,
14. Tito In
15. Sin Amor
16. No Me Obligues
17. Cubarama
18. Asi Es Como Era [Malibu]

Disc 3:

1. Cha Charuguao
2. Guarririambo
3. Calypso Blues
4. Cubana Bay
5. Minor Moods
6. The Floozie
7. Mambo Beat
8. Night Ritual
9. Duerme
10. Lullabye Of The Leaves
11. Noche De Ronda
12. Son De La Loma
13. Ecstacy
14. La Ola Marina
15. What A Difference A Day Makes
16. Eleguara
17. Mon Ti
18. Ti Mon Bo

Disc 4:

1. Camellia
2. Happy Land Of Hunza
3. Mambo Gozsn
4. Llego Mijan
5. Hong Kong Mambo
6. Mi Chiquita Quiere Bembe
7. Cuando Te Vea
8. Cha Kee Ta
9. Cute Chick
10. Black Pearl
11. Brazil
12. Yucatan
13. Miramar
14. Acapulco
15. Yours
16. Port Au Pleasure
17. Dancing Under Latin Skies
18. Cuban Pete

Disc 5:

1. Campanitas De Cristal
2. El Bajo
3. El Palo
4. Cha Cha Son
5. Cha-Cha-Gua
6. Chanchullo
7. Delisse
8. Suave Asi
9. Guataca
10. The Jazz Theme
11. That Old Devil Moon
12. Tito's Theme
13. Grossinger's Cha Cha Cha
14. I Love Paris
15. Miami Beach Cha Cha Cha
16. How High the Moon
17. Puente At Grossinger's
18. Philadelphia Mambo

Disc 6:

1. Cuero Pelao
2. Son Montuno
3. Dance Of The Headhunters
4. Voodoo Dance At Midnight
5. Witch Doctor's Nightmare
6. Jungle Holiday
7. Dance Mania
8. Una Mujer
9. A Gozar Timbero
10. Cua Cua
11. Separala Tambien
12. Baila Como Es
13. Baia [Ma Baixa Do Sapateiro]
14. La Virgen de la Macarena
15. Temptation
16. Autumn Leaves
17. Kiss Of Fire
18. The Continental