Tito Puente was already “The King of Latin Music” twenty years into his career when this record dropped. Tico Records built its whole identity around Puente, and this 1967 set marked two decades of that partnership — a milestone few Latin bandleaders of his generation ever reached. “Work Song” and “Fat Mama” show Puente pulling jazz standards and soul-jazz phrasing straight into his mambo and cha-cha arrangements, the same restless cross-pollination that made him impossible to box into one genre. This Venezuelan pressing carried that sound south, part of how Puente's records circulated across Latin America well beyond the New York scene that made him.
Genre: Latin / Mambo, Cha-Cha
Year: 1967
Label: Tico Records — LP-1151
Country: Venezuela
Condition: Media: VG+ / Sleeve: VG
Notes: Venezuela pressing (US pressing also exists and is far more common — priced against that broader US market). Minor ringwear and a small sticker mark on the sleeve.
Tito Puente was already “The King of Latin Music” twenty years into his career when this record dropped. Tico Records built its whole identity around Puente, and this 1967 set marked two decades of that partnership — a milestone few Latin bandleaders of his generation ever reached. “Work Song” and “Fat Mama” show Puente pulling jazz standards and soul-jazz phrasing straight into his mambo and cha-cha arrangements, the same restless cross-pollination that made him impossible to box into one genre. This Venezuelan pressing carried that sound south, part of how Puente's records circulated across Latin America well beyond the New York scene that made him.
Genre: Latin / Mambo, Cha-Cha
Year: 1967
Label: Tico Records — LP-1151
Country: Venezuela
Condition: Media: VG+ / Sleeve: VG
Notes: Venezuela pressing (US pressing also exists and is far more common — priced against that broader US market). Minor ringwear and a small sticker mark on the sleeve.
