Tommy Olivencia feat. Chamaco Ramírez & Paquito Guzmán – Juntos de Nuevo (1974)

This is the notorious album that marked the return of Chamaco Ramírez with Tommy Olivencia after a four-year hiatus. Ramírez's improvisational skills are a model to follow; one wonders what kind of career he would have embraced had he not met an untimely death in 1983 at the age of 41. C. Curet Alonso's "Pa'lante Otra Vez" brings good news, with 20-year-old Angel "Angie" Machado, in some of his earliest's session work. Henry Alvarez's "Doroteo" is an interesting opus to a particularly ugly man. Paquito Guzmán puts his unmistakable stamp on his break from his solo career, in order to be with Olivencia. "El Son Cubano" (performed by Guzmán) shows mastery and skill. Arrangements are by Bobby Valentin, Máximo Torres, Jorge Millet, and longtime arranger Luis "Café" Nieves. Highly diverting, especially for Olivencia's fans.~José A. Estévez, Jr.