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Tito Puente – Mucho Puente (1957) (1986 Venezuela)

Tito Puente – Mucho Puente
Vinyl transfer in 24-bit/192 kHz || Latin, Salsa
1957 RCA Victor || This pressing 1986 Venezuela RCA 102-02019 || Mono

An interesting late 50’s record from Tito Puente, this may not be the best record to inaugurate what (I hope) will be a small series of posts I will do here to commemorate centenary of  the great timbalero, bandleader, and icon of Latin music. Lemme tell you why:Tito Puente – Mucho Puente (1957) (1986 Venezuela)

Walter Wanderley Trio – Chegança (1966) (1971 reissue)

The Walter Wanderley Trio – Cheganca
Original release 1966 on Verve
1971 Reissue MGM Records
Series: MGM Latino Series – 10,010 MGS 610

Like many musicians looking for reprieve from the turmoil of mid-60s Brazil, keyboardist Walter Wanderley had left the country and settled in the United States.   He emigrated at the behest of Creed Taylor and made half a dozen albums for Verve. Most of them can be classed under ‘lounge’ or ‘exotica’ music, which has its own charms, although often as sweet as the half ton of bagged sugar featured on the front of this album.  But “Chegança” is more like the bossa-jazz records Wanderley made in Brazil and has much less of the Creed Taylor background-music schmaltz factor.   The whole band grooves together.  There is appropriately unsubtle cuica playing on O Ganso (“The Goose”)  The highlight, though,  is still the organ playing.  Have a listen to the solo in “Você e eu” below.Walter Wanderley Trio – Chegança (1966) (1971 reissue)