Mambo Birdland
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Mambo Birdland
| type = live
| artist = Tito Puente
| cover = Mambo Birdland.webp
| alt =
| released = 1999
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre =
| length =
| label = RMM{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pDSx4v-NRF4C&pg=PA72|title=Tito Puente: King of Latin Music|first=Jim|last=Payne|date=May 25, 2006|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation}}
| producer =
| prev_title = Dancemania '99: Live at Birdland
| prev_year = 1998
| next_title = Masterpiece
| next_year = 2000
}}
Mambo Birdland is a live album by the American musician Tito Puente.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2000/06/01/1074882/tito-puente-dies-at-77|title=Tito Puente Dies at 77|agency=NPR}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FPBnBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA457|title=Latino History and Culture: An Encyclopedia|first1=David J.|last1=Leonard|first2=Carmen R.|last2=Lugo-Lugo|date=March 17, 2015|publisher=Routledge}} It was released in 1999.{{cite magazine |last1=Lannert |first1=John |title=Latin notas |magazine=Billboard |date=Sep 25, 1999 |volume=111 |issue=39 |page=68}}
The album won a Grammy Award for "Best Traditional Tropical Latin Performance"; it was Puente's fifth Grammy.{{cite web |title=Tito Puente |url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/tito-puente/5760 |website=Recording Academy |access-date=25 May 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Ferguson |first1=Jon |title=Hot timbales |work=Intelligencer Journal |date=3 Mar 2000 |department=Happenings |page=3}} Interviewed after the nominations were announced, Puente expressed particular appreciation as the album coincided with the Latin music resurgence of the late 1990s.{{cite news |last1=Chang |first1=Daniel |title=Tito Puente still in the groove |work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |agency=Orange County Register| date=31 Jan 2000 |page=6B}} Mambo Birdland peaked at No. 14 on Billboard's Tropical Albums chart.{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/tito-puente/|title=Tito Puente|website=Billboard}}
Production
Mambo Birdland was recorded at Birdland.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/1433394/update-mambo-king-tito-puente-dead-at-77/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525131252/https://www.mtv.com/news/1433394/update-mambo-king-tito-puente-dead-at-77/|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 25, 2022|title="Mambo King" Tito Puente Dead at 77|website=MTV News}} Ray Vega played trumpet on the album.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTysFVY-i7UC&pg=PA373|title=The Trumpet Kings: The Players Who Shaped the Sound of Jazz Trumpet|first=Scott|last=Yanow|date=May 25, 2001|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation}} Puente, whose previous album was also a live recording, enjoyed live albums as they allowed him to expand and improvise on songs he had played for decades.{{cite news |last1=Lechner |first1=Ernesto |title=Old and Improved |work=Los Angeles Times |date=20 Jan 2000 |page=F7}}
Critical reception
{{music ratings
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/mambo-birdland-mw0000252079|title=Tito Puente Mambo Birdland|website=AllMusic}}
|rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev2score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=6 |pages=685–686}}
|rev3 = (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide
|rev3score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book |title=(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=2004 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=663}}
}}
The Los Angeles Times called the album "simply exhilarating"; The Dallas Morning News labeled it "sizzling."{{cite news |title=Latin Music |work=The Dallas Morning News |date=April 21, 2000 |department=Guide |page=4}} Hispanic wrote that it "radiates the kind of frenzied, nostalgic, mambospiced energy that has been a Puente trademark since the debut of his popular Dancemania series."{{cite magazine |last1=Holston |first1=Mark |title=Mambo Birdland |magazine=Hispanic |date=Mar 2000 |volume=13 |issue=3 |page=70}}
The Toronto Sun noted that "Puente remains a vital performer."{{cite news |last1=Nazareth |first1=Errol |title=Tito Shoots for the Moon |work=Toronto Sun |date=February 11, 2000 |department=Entertainment |page=48}} The Boston Herald concluded that Mambo Birdland is "studded with excellent playing from such Latin-jazz veterans as Bobby Porcelli, Sonny Bravo and Mario Rivera, but it never forgets the dancers' feet, either."{{cite news |last1=Convey |first1=Kevin R. |title=Discs |work=Boston Herald |date=February 18, 2000 |page=S23}}
AllMusic wrote that "Puente has put out more than 100 recordings over his long career, but in little over an hour, this skillfully edited live session manages to capture the essence of that huge repertoire and get to the pure root of Latin jazz."
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| title1 = Mambo Birdland
| length1 =
| title2 = Juventud del Presente
| length2 =
| title3 = Ban Ban Quere
| length3 =
| title4 = Como Está Miguel
| length4 =
| title5 = Cha Cha Cha Mambo
| length5 =
| title6 = Guaguancó Margarito
| length6 =
| title7 = Mi Mamita
| length7 =
| title8 = Mambo Gozón
| length8 =
| title9 = Oye Mi Guaguancó
| length9 =
| title10 = Ran Kan Kan
| length10 =
| title11 = Oye Como Va
| length11 =
}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Tito Puente}}
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