One hot tomale of a CD!
Thomas E. DeJulio | Bronxville, NY USA | 07/24/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"True Mantovani fans will be spiced up by this new compilation of "original" Mantovani recordings. The CD contains most of the original British tracks of two Mantovani LP's entitled, Latin Rendezvous (1963) and Ole Mantovani (1965). American fans will be overjoyed to hear two tracks not previously released on their American LPs - A Garden in Grenada and La Golondrina. The only complaint one can make about this CD is against the producers who added three "Italian" song tracks from a 1958 Mantovani recording entitled, Continental Encores. The producers must have eaten too many hot tomales when they decided to add Arriverderci Roma, Anema e Core, and Poppa Piccolino to this "all latin" CD. Those songs are wonderful, but their placement on this CD is bizarre. In any event, Mantovani fans will be thrilled to hear tracks as the Maestro arranged and recorded them, including several songs not found on any of the re-recorded CDs by the currently performing Mantovani Orchestra."
Guilty Pleasure
Sheryl Katz | Chatsworth, CA USA | 01/31/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I'm one of those people who generally sneers at Mantovani. I'm also an amateur sax player and nominal leader of an amateur swing band. Because I like big band music (although generally not the syrupy pop orchestral music associated with Mantovani), and because I really like Spanish tinged Jazz, I decided to try this disc.
I really like it. A lot. The arrangements are tasteful and fun. The musicians display a high level of musicianship. The tunes are delightful. Much to my surprise my enjoyment hasn't faded after numerous listenings. The only reason I don't give this five stars is that some of the numbers, particularly the Italian songs (as others have noted - what are they doing on a Spanish song collection) fall off into being schlocky pop. This disc is lots of fun even if like me you normally don't like Mantovani."
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1