Mambo Gozon - The RCA Years 1949-1960

This collection gathers a set of classic Tito Puente tracks from his decade long stint with the RCA Victor label with a very specific set of criteria: to assemble the best tracks that exemplify the blueprint for what would become known as salsa. Here are 24 tracks compiled from the best dancefloor tracks from Tito's golden era that easily adapt to the aesthetics of modern salsa. Though it may seem obvious or perhaps even a fool's errand to dedicate a compilation to this theme, since everything Tito recorded was full of "salsa y sabor" (sauce and flavor), it's actually perhaps the first of its kind in that every recording here is specifically chosen for today's salsa dancers, in whichever style they choose to dance, with an emphasis on the guaguancó rhythm and mambo arrangement. Tito's RCA sessions produced the most high quality, incredible sounding recordings of the epoch, and they more than hold their own by today's sonic standards. For this reason, Grosso has collected two dozen of Tito's finest golden era nuggets for the dance floor, with a concerted emphasis on midtempo numbers with clear percussion patterns that easily fit the modern salsa aesthetic.