Charanga La Tapa (1994)

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Charanga La Tapa (1994)

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Here are six glorious extended cuts peppered with solos that you can really lose yourself in. Messrs. Martínez and Alfonso (otherwise know as Hansel & Raúl) did a wonderful job on the production. The session is packed with luminaries like Gilberto "El Pulpo" Colón on piano, Puente's stalwart bassist Bobby Rodríguez, tres player Charlie Rodríguez and percussionist Mike Martínez; together with Héctor "Tempo" Alomar and Tony "Pupy Cantor" Torres, the vocal duo on Libre's early albums. However, there is no credit given for the arrangements. Particularly outstanding is the blistering rendition of Eddie Palmieri's "Vamonos Pa'l Monte", featuring keynote solos from El Pulpo and timbalero Charlie Santiago. The original vinyl issue of Charanga La Tapa in 1981 on the Neon label only contained the four tracks "Vamonos Pa'l Monte", "El Platanal De Bartolo", "Papa Montero" and "Oriente". I'm not wholly convinced that the Charanga La Tapa personnel recorded the bonus cuts "Presente Y Pasado" and "Macorina". I suspect they are possibly previously unreleased material from Charanga De La 4 sessions. Never the less, you get a total playing time of 56 sublime minutes!