Search - Desi Arnaz :: Best of Mambo King

I Love Desi!

Amy | Baltimore, Md. USA | 12/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I really enjoyed this CD a lot. It is a nice blend of familiar
tunes as well as ones I've never heard in his beautiful native
language. If you are a huge Desi Arnaz fan like I am, definitely
consider adding this to your collection. What a beautiful talented artist he was and will continue to be through his music."

LUCY LOVED DESI

Cliff Somers | Birmingham, AL USA | 09/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"And you will to. This music conveys the happy feeling of Latin music produced for the American ear from 1946 to 1949. I picked up the album from Amazon after listening to selected cuts offered by the Yahoo Music radio service -- "El Cumbanchero" and "Cuban Pete". The cuts are almost all strong and all are well recorded, especially when you compare the sound quality to those on some other big band recordings that have been reissued.

"Babalu" which became Desi Arnez signature piece on the I Love Lucy TV show is probably one of the least appealing, and that may be why it was used comedically in the TV show through the years. The highlight cuts include -- "Peanut Vender", "Holiday in Havana", "You Can in Yucatan" and "Brazil". While brass, strings, drums and guitars tend to dominate much of today's music, this album gives the spotlight to a variety of percussion instruments, flute, clarinet and bass clarinet. It is refreshing to hear them in solo.

The liner notes by Will Friedwald are extensive and give you a glimpse into this period of Desi's life between his movie career and the defining work he and Lucille Ball did on television in the 50's.

I could not recommend this album more and hope you enjoy it as much as I did."

GREAT!

Dackelmommy | 03/01/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While the disk could be remastered for some of the "picky/more modernesque" folks, this is really a gem of a recording...it sounds like those great recordings did, when original, and frankly, it is a treat to hear a "true" recording in these days of overdone cleanliness.



If you like music with a Cuban flavor, go for this one...period!"