Tito Puente
Dance Mania
(RCA/Legacy)
Mainstream America's embracement of Latin music really took hold in the latter half of the 1950s with the "mambo craze." Despite its faddish overtones and eventual disintegration into novelty ("Mambo Italiano"), this particular craze inspired some terrific music, none better than Tito Puente's Dance Mania, which in 2000 was named one of the 25 "most significant albums" of the 20th century by the New York Times.
Puente, a native New Yorker of Puerto Rican heritage, was a brilliant percussionist (especially on timbales), composer and arranger, all of which are on display in this two-CD expanded edition that includes the original album and 1960's Dance Mania Vol. 2 (both with bonus tracks).