AMG Review of Featuring Tito Puente & Charlie Parker

Cub Koda
All Music Guide

This is a hodgepodge of live and studio tracks with Tito Puente and Charlie Parker sitting in with various later versions of the Herman band. The Bird tracks emanate from a poorly recorded live performance from ~the Municipal Arena in Kansas City from 1951, and features him in top form on a two part "How High the Moon," "Laura," "You Go to My Head," a two-part "Leo the Lion," "Cuban Holiday," and "The Nearness of You." The sides with Puente are studio tracks from 1958 and consist of five Puente originals, sounding particularly effective on "Mambo Herd" and "Tito Meets Woody."