Customer Reviews

Mambo All Stars

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If you like Cuban music, you'll love this cd. The interpretations of the songs are perfect. Great music for the beach or taking a shower in the morning.

The concept of this album probably seemed like a good idea at the time: get together a band of studio musicians and re-record some arrangements using the styles of Xavier Cugat, Perez Prado and Tito Puente in modern day digital sound. But good intentions don't always lead to good results and this CD is a prime example.

There are three problems with the concept.

To begin with, there really is no need for this recording. Modern digital recordings can be wonderful but all three of these classic Latin bandleaders got the benefit of some of the best recording techniques that ever existed. Prado and Puente recorded (mostly) for RCA Living Stereo and Cugat for Mercury Living Presence. In the late Fifties or early Sixties when these recordings were made, few people had the sound equipment to fully appreciate them but over the years, they've become prized by audiophiles for their impressive sonic qualities. RCA has transferred many of Prado and Puente's recordings to CD and the results are even more impressive. Cugat's Mercury vinyl hasn't been so fortunate but if you can find clean copies of his recordings in a used LP store somewhere, you will still have records which will amaze the neighbors (and break your lease, if you so desire.)

Secondly, for all their personae as good time, let's have a party Joes, all three bandleaders were demanding taskmasters who accepted nothing but the sharpest, snappiest and best possible playing from their band members. Either the Mambo All-Stars hadn't been playing together long enough to cohere into a unified whole or their leader simply didn't demand very much of them when this recording was made. Some of the playing is quite loose and sloppy, enough to be a distraction at times. You don't realize how good the bands of the three classic bandleaders were until you hear what's missing from this recording.

Finally, there is the matter of the vocals. Latin Band singing is sometimes a case of love it or really dislike it. I admit that a lot of it is less than appealing to me, but it can add an extra "taste of tabasco" to the performances if the singer's tone is right. Here however, the vocalist's tone is nasal and twangy enough to be a frequent stumbling block to the listening and almost cringe-making at times. I also see that Janis Segal, of Manhattan Transfer fame, was one of the spearheads of this CD concept. She contributes the vocals to one track but her watery voice is no more appealing here than it is on her Manhattan Transfer performances.

Everything isn't bad about this recording. Some of the instrumental cuts work well and the opening track, "Perfidia" could pass for one of Perez Prado's arrangements, always a good thing. But I wouldn't put this CD high on your list of priorities. A little clicking around on Amazon can take you to performances which serve the purpose a great deal better than this one.