AMG Review of Machito at the Crescendo

Alex Henderson
All Music Guide

Machito, one of the most revered artists in the history of Afro-Cuban music, lives up to his well-deserved reputation for giving 200 percent in concert on At the Crescendo. Captured live at Hollywood, CA's ~Crescendo (a legendary, long-gone Sunset Strip nightclub owned by record exec/producer/concert promoter Gene Norman), Machito and his orchestra swing hard and passionately on both fiery, rhythmic salsa like "Ven Conmigo Guajira," "No Tiene Telerana" and "El Columpio" and spirited Latin-jazz interpretations of Sonny Rollins' "Pent-Up House" (wrongly credited to Miles Davis in the CD's liner notes) and Ray Bryant's "Cuban Fantasy." No one with even a moderate interest in Afro-Cuban music should pass up this dynamic performance (reissued on CD in 1990).