Top Percussion

Tito Puente | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony U.S. Latin
• ASIN: B000005LFE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #140,249 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #43 in Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba > Cuba > Big Band

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable, February 5, 2003

By 

"coco_blanco" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Top Percussion (Audio CD)

A truly unbelievable record, and a wonderful introduction to both Latin percussion and the Afro/Cuban folkloric tradition. Though Puerto Rican by birth, Tito was an initiate to the Cuban Santeria religion, and in this album he pays homage to the spiritual and musical roots of the Mambo and Cha Cha styles for which he became most famous. Tito, Mongo, Willie Bobo, Julito Collazo, etc., all play at an unsurpassed level of virtuosity and creativity, maintaining a dizzying array of poly-rhythms that provide a virtual catalog of the West African rhythms that filtered through Cuba to become the Latin music we know and love today. As honest, beautiful, and interesting a record as any Tito Puente made. An absolute must for anyone with even the slightest interest in Latin music, drumming, Cuban culture and experience, Tito Puente, or even rhythm in general. Go get it!!!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Getting to Roots, December 11, 2001

By 

Harold Fuentes "MMA.Fan" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Top Percussion (Audio CD)

Great sample of Tito's understanding of Afro music. If you're looking for actual songs/mambos you won't get it here. This is pure, unadulterated percussion and a lot of Afro-Cuban chants. There's 2 sizzling tracks with Tito and famous percussionist Willie Bobo wailing on timbales. The 12th track is one of the most beautiful afro-cuban jazz suites I've ever heard and is a testament to Tito's genuis in composition and arrangment.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The world's best latin-american percussionist- in full swing, March 6, 2003

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Top Percussion (Audio CD)

In case anyone had any doubts -- at all -- that Tito could play the real, hardcore, pure Afro-Cuban percussion, then this album should settle that question. With Mongo Santamaria and several other percussion heavyweights on board, Tito pounds away on some of the toughest-sounding rhythm work imaginable. The second half of the album gets funkier and more slinky, with a subtle, jazzy bass added into the mix. This is a killer instrumental album, formidable and funky in every aspect. Recommended!