Mambo Birdland

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Mambo Birdland
Mambo Birdland.webp
Live album by
Released1999
Label RMM [1]
Tito Puente chronology
Dancemania '99: Live at Birdland
(1998)
Mambo Birdland
(1999)
Masterpiece
(2000)

Mambo Birdland is a live album by the American musician Tito Puente. [2] [3] It was released in 1999. [4]

Contents

The album won a Grammy Award for "Best Traditional Tropical Latin Performance"; it was Puente's fifth Grammy. [5] [6] Interviewed after the nominations were announced, Puente expressed particular appreciation as the album coincided with the Latin music resurgence of the late 1990s. [7] Mambo Birdland peaked at No. 14 on Billboard's Tropical Albums chart. [8]

Production

Mambo Birdland was recorded at Birdland. [9] Ray Vega played trumpet on the album. [10] Puente, whose previous album was also a live recording, enjoyed live albums as they allowed him to expand and improvise on songs he had played for decades. [11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [14]

The Los Angeles Times called the album "simply exhilarating"; The Dallas Morning News labeled it "sizzling." [11] [15] Hispanic wrote that it "radiates the kind of frenzied, nostalgic, mambospiced energy that has been a Puente trademark since the debut of his popular Dancemania series." [16]

The Toronto Sun noted that "Puente remains a vital performer." [17] The Boston Herald concluded that Mambo Birdland is "studded with excellent playing from such Latin-jazz veterans as Bobby Porcelli, Sonny Bravo and Mario Rivera, but it never forgets the dancers' feet, either." [18]

AllMusic wrote that "Puente has put out more than 100 recordings over his long career, but in little over an hour, this skillfully edited live session manages to capture the essence of that huge repertoire and get to the pure root of Latin jazz." [12]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Mambo Birdland" 
2."Juventud del Presente" 
3."Ban Ban Quere" 
4."Como Está Miguel" 
5."Cha Cha Cha Mambo" 
6."Guaguancó Margarito" 
7."Mi Mamita" 
8."Mambo Gozón" 
9."Oye Mi Guaguancó" 
10."Ran Kan Kan" 
11."Oye Como Va" 

References

  1. Payne, Jim (May 25, 2006). Tito Puente: King of Latin Music. Hal Leonard Corporation.
  2. "Tito Puente Dies at 77". NPR.
  3. Leonard, David J.; Lugo-Lugo, Carmen R. (March 17, 2015). Latino History and Culture: An Encyclopedia. Routledge.
  4. Lannert, John (September 25, 1999). "Latin notas". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 39. p. 68.
  5. "Tito Puente". Recording Academy. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  6. Ferguson, Jon (March 3, 2000). "Hot timbales". Happenings. Intelligencer Journal. p. 3.
  7. Chang, Daniel (January 31, 2000). "Tito Puente still in the groove". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Orange County Register. p. 6B.
  8. "Tito Puente". Billboard.
  9. ""Mambo King" Tito Puente Dead at 77". MTV News. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022.
  10. Yanow, Scott (May 25, 2001). The Trumpet Kings: The Players Who Shaped the Sound of Jazz Trumpet. Hal Leonard Corporation.
  11. 1 2 Lechner, Ernesto (January 20, 2000). "Old and Improved". Los Angeles Times. p. F7.
  12. 1 2 "Tito Puente Mambo Birdland". AllMusic.
  13. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6. MUZE. pp. 685–686.
  14. (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 663.
  15. "Latin Music". Guide. The Dallas Morning News. April 21, 2000. p. 4.
  16. Holston, Mark (March 2000). "Mambo Birdland". Hispanic. Vol. 13, no. 3. p. 70.
  17. Nazareth, Errol (February 11, 2000). "Tito Shoots for the Moon". Entertainment. Toronto Sun. p. 48.
  18. Convey, Kevin R. (February 18, 2000). "Discs". Boston Herald. p. S23.