Tito Puente & His Orchestra – Mambo Gozon – The RCA Years 1949-1960 – Vinyl LP

This collection gathers a set of classic Tito Puente tracks from his decade long stint with the RCA Victor label with a very specific set of criteria: to assemble the best tracks that exemplify the blueprint for what would become known as salsa. Here are 24 tracks compiled from the best dancefloor tracks from Tito’s golden era that easily adapt to the aesthetics of modern salsa. Though it may seem obvious or perhaps even a fool’s errand to dedicate a compilation to this theme, since everything Tito recorded was full of “salsa y sabor” (sauce and flavor), it’s actually perhaps the first of its kind in that every recording here is specifically chosen for today’s salsa dancers, in whichever style they choose to dance, with an emphasis on the guaguanco rhythm and mambo arrangement. Tito’s RCA sessions produced the most high quality, incredible sounding recordings of the epoch, and they more than hold their own by today’s sonic standards. For this reason, Grosso has collected two dozen of Tito’s finest golden era nuggets for the dance floor, with a concerted emphasis on midtempo numbers with clear percussion patterns that easily fit the modern salsa aesthetic. Featuring: Santos Colon, Vicentico Valdes, Alfredito Valdes, Vitin Aviles, Yayo “el Indio”, Tony Molina.

Disc: 1
1 Mambo Gozon
2 Cuando Te Vea
3 Complicacion
4 Agua Limpia Todo
5 Saca Tu Mujer
6 Hong Kong Mambo
7 Baila Como Es
8 Cua Cua
9 Con Sandunga
10 El Cayuco
11 Separala Tambien
12 Three D Mambo

Disc: 2
1 Guancona
2 A Gozar Timbero
3 Guaguanco Margarito
4 Cual Es La Idea
5 Oye Mi Guaguanco
6 Que Sera (What Is It?)
7 Arinanara
8 Para Que Sufran Los Pollos
9 Tu No Eres Nadie
10 Cao Cao Mani Picao
11 Ran Kan Kan
12 Picadillo