Video of the Week:Puente, Giovanni & Richie
Posted on 18. Jul, 2009 by Hector Aviles in Blog
To continue with the Latin Jazz theme of this week, I selected a video of Tito Puente with a selected group of mostly percussionist, performing Puente’s favorite Five Beat Mambo. This is one of Puente’s old favorite, which he previously recorded as Four Beat Mambo with Willie “Bobo” on bongoes, Mongo Santamaria and Patato Valdes alternating on congas, and Bobby Rodriguez on bass. In this version, Tito has Giovanni Hidalgo and Richie Flores alternating on congas.
Giovanni Hidalgo vs. Richie Flores on solos
Giovanni Hidalgo and Richie Flores are two of the best conga players in Latin music. You can see and hear the different styles of both, despite that both highlight speed as one of their top talent. But you can see that Giovanni Hidalgo combines speed with rythm and harmony a bit differently, and in my opinion nicier, than Richie. But Richie Flores wasn’t selected by Tito Puente for nothing, and does a nice solo. Two great conga players, but in my opinion, its advantage Giovanni Hidalgo. Five Beat Mambo starts with a solid bass played by John Benitez, and goes from there. Enjoy the video below:
The rest of the ensemble is composed by Johnny Almendra on bongos, El Negro Hernandez on drums, and John Benitz on bass. Tito Puente showcases his leadership skill, and always performs great on solos.
Puente in Percussion
Puente in Percussion
This is a great dessert for the main entrees of the week. In the meantime, check out the “Puente in Percussion” CD, which seems like a nice collection of Tito Puente classics, and includes Four Beat Mambo which I mentioned above. You can find it at www.Descarga.com and at www.Amazon.com (its cheaper at Amazon, although Descarga has a wider seletion of vitange latin music).
Hope you enjoy this video as much as I did. Let me know which solo you preferred; Giovanni’s or Richie’s?
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