Flamboyant and innovative percussionist who infused big-band music with Latin sounds to become El Rey de los Timbales.
By virtue of his warm and buoyant stage manner, constant touring, longevity, and appearances in the mass media, Tito Puente became one of the most beloved symbols of Latin jazz. But more than that, he managed to keep his music remarkably fresh over the decades; as a timbales virtuoso, he combined mastery over every rhythmic nuance with old-fashioned showmanship. A trained musician, he was also a fine, lyrical vibraphonist, a gifted arranger, and played piano, congas, bongos, and saxophone…

Listen to the opener, "Dile Que Venga," "Calumbo," or their version of Frank Cabrera's classic stomp "La Lloradora," and you will hear a big band in choppy harmonic bliss cutting across Latin music, jazz, and even R&B with a vengeance. Of the ballads, El Topo's gorgeous "Pobre de Mi" and Lupe's own "Amor Verdadero" are her finest performances here.

While Ray Barretto's congas have graced more recording sessions than virtually any other conguero of his time, he has also led some refreshingly progressive Latin jazz bands over the decades. His records often have a more tense, more adventurously eclectic edge than those of most conventional salsa groups, unafraid to use electronics and novel instrumental or structural combinations, driven hard by his rocksteady, endlessly flexible percussion work.

At the time that Sabroso was recorded, Mongo Santamaria's group was essentially a charanga band with two trumpets added, a combination that works quite well. The group has superior playing by Jose "Chombo" Silva on both violin and tenor (helping "Para Ti" to become a classic), two little-known but talented trumpeters (Louis Valizan and Marcus Cabuto), the great flutist Rolando Lozano, pianist Rene Hernandez, bassist Victor Venegas, and Willie Bobo on drums.

A master conguero, Santamaria at his best creates an incantatory spell rooted in Cuban religious rituals, quietly seating himself before his congas and soloing with total command over the rhythmic spaces between the beats while his band pumps out an endless vamp.