Rating: 
Summary: Cheap Imitation.
Review: This latin jazz dvd is a mediocre extraction from the afro cuban genre. Unlike the afro cuban style of long versions with cadenzas where musicians take the oportunity to show off their skills in different instruments. The campesino music such as "son montuno, juaguiro and cubano", as well as ball room compositions such as danzon, cha cha cha and mambo are also absent. The genre in this dvd is taken from the caribean concept known as salsa. If you want to enjoy afro cuban music, purchase Buenavista Social Club. Amazon. com has a much larger selection of cuban music than Virgin Records.
Rating: 
Summary: 5 stars out of respect for the very high caliber musicians
Review: When this DVD first came out, I refrained from reviewing it. That was not due to my not owning it (I still do not). It was because, in a certain respect, the concert was a fiasco. I know because I, too, was there. This was due to the unfortunate hospitalization of Tito Puente. At the beginning of the concert the audience was informed of his health crisis and it quickly became apparent that the musicians were in fear of his impending demise. At one point, one of the featured artists (who shall remain nameless) seized a microphone and launched into a rant. It seemed pretty clear that he was intoxicated and he was soon escorted off stage. I would like to assume that those present that night ultimately forgave him, since he was obviously distraught about Tito. This scene, as well as other undesirable dialogue, may be responsible for the strange editing of the video footage that people have mentioned.
It is a testament to the remaining musicians, as well as dancer Debbie Allen who was also on stage that evening, that they all managed to adhere to the old adage "The Show Must Go On".
A couple of points:
First- This concert was never meant to be primarily "a celebration of Latin jazz heritage" as the official editorial stated. Nor was it originally intended to be a tribute to Tito Puente. The purpose of the concert was to raised money for Miami schools to develop a program to help train young people to embark upon careers in 'arts related' fields (stagecraft, lights, mixing board, etc.).
Second- This concert was not meant to be a program of straight ahead Afro Cuban music. It was from the start a Latin Jazz concert.
Finally- I probably will buy the DVD even though it reportedly fails to include Chick Corea and Origin's number "Wigwam". That is too bad. I guess I will have to get the CD, too....darn ;)
Mark Edward Hendricks
Wilton Manors, FL
Rating:
Summary: Big band latin jazz will blow you away!
Review: Wow! I just watched this and I am blown away! Big names such as Poncho Sanchez, Chick Corea, Arturo Sandoval, and others deliver the latin jazz goods in this tribute to Tito Puente! What I love about this production is that it is live and raw, no fix up in the studio. And I LOVE the camera that is dead center in front of the band, which gives you a dead center, front view of the band and when Arturo Sandoval is playing a trumpet solo he and his trumpet face dead straight at YOU! It doesn't get better than this! Arturo Sandoval leads this large big jazz band but also plays virtuoso solos that rival Manyard Ferguson. Super high notes and super low notes come flying out of his trumpet, as only a master can do it. And make no mistake, Arturo is a master trumpeter! But Arturo isn't the only trumpet soloist here! This concert has several trumpet soloists that come forward and deliver! Cluadio Roditi plays a trumpet (maybe a fluglehorn?) that has side valves, and the tone of this trumpet is much less brassy, but very mellow. I haven't heard a more beautiful trumpet tone in my life! Chick Corea is in top form playing a Fender Rhodes Mark V electric piano and we get lots of close ups of his fingers at work. Chick has set the Fender Rhodes at a very smooth tone setting- maybe a bit too smooth. I was desiring a more distorted tone, but it's still quite acceptable. For example, the first piece features a xylophone but the smooth tone of the Fender Rhodes seemed too similar to the xylophone (to my ears). Chick maybe should have played acoustic piano on this piece. Don't let the first selection fool you. The first piece is a light piece of music compared to what soon follows- full blast jazz band and hot trumpet jazz solos. A large percussion section, with Poncho Sanchez on congos, keeps the rythmns going, and full scale horn and sax sections are superb. The raw audio quality is exciting, and although a better mix could have been achieved in the studio, I much prefer the TRUE live audio presented here without any apparent extra studio dubbing. Alhough Chick's electric piano may be a bit too smooth, and the percussion section isn't mixed as good as it could have been, the horn and sax section however sound phenomenal!! (could have been dubbed later, not 100 percent sure, but don't care- it sounds great!) The camera work and editing is very good. There are several cameras being utilized. I started to worry about some very brief special effects- video 'freeze' and 'jerky' effects. Usually, these dumb special effects ruin the show, but fortunately, they are used for only very brief moments. Thank goodness because it's a joy watching these musicians work! And again, I love that dead center camera right in front of the band! The concert is kinda short but I'm not complaining at all. After all, trumpet lips get tired, but we hear no cracking notes here. Plus, thank goodness, there is no talking between songs and no filler video clips during or between the songs as well, which is GREAT!! The concert moves along non-stop to a very satisfying finale of "I Love Lucy" theme, and it's all delivered with heart and soul! This is mostly a trumpet spectacular but Chick Corea is heavily featured as well. Sax and trombone solos are unfortunately very brief, I wanted to hear more sax solo, but I'm happy otherwise with the trumpet solos. There is even a guy playing conk sea shells (blowing through them like a trumpet) on one song! However, this was more of a novelty for a few laughs, because as hard as he tried, he couldn't really get enough notes from the conk shells to make music like a real instrument. Still, it was fun to see.
Rating:
Summary: one of the best
Review: Yes, for those who thinks that latin music is not well perfom, just listen to these Latin super musicians.
This DVD is for collectors.
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