Decorated with a colorful reproduction of a 78 rpm picture disc, Harlequin's Desi Arnaz collection consists of 23 choice examples from 1937-1947. Because Arnaz only began recording with his La Congra Orchestra in 1940, this time line touches upon his first appearances on record, including a taste of his work with Xavier Cugat. As leader of his own band at the Conga Club in Miami and afterwards, Arnaz operated under a clearly stated intention to blend the atmospheric textures of André Kostelanetz with the dynamism of real ...
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Decorated with a colorful reproduction of a 78 rpm picture disc, Harlequin's Desi Arnaz collection consists of 23 choice examples from 1937-1947. Because Arnaz only began recording with his La Congra Orchestra in 1940, this time line touches upon his first appearances on record, including a taste of his work with Xavier Cugat. As leader of his own band at the Conga Club in Miami and afterwards, Arnaz operated under a clearly stated intention to blend the atmospheric textures of André Kostelanetz with the dynamism of real Cuban and Latin American traditions. The evidence collected here combines lovely mood music ("Green Eyes," "Siboney") with hot dance numbers ("Tico-Tico," "Carnival in Rio," "Cachita," "Tabu," and "Le Conga en Nueva York"). There are lots of vocals by Arnaz and others, with "La Borrachita" and "In Santiago, Chile" being sung in English. For those who seek an early version of the song that served as the intro to the "I Love Lucy" television theme, "Babalu" is also included, back to back with "The Peanut Vendor." ~ arwulf arwulf, Rovi
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