What a show it was, starting hot right out of the gate with Dizzy Gillespie’s “Manteca”. It was powerful, punchy, percussion-rich and of course, brassy and bold with notable trombone, trumpet and baritone solos and great ensemble work. Perez Prado’s “Mambo à la Kenton” was great fun and fully confident, as exciting as only a twenty-piece band can make it. This was a Paquito D’Rivera arrangement, but, as with all of the pieces, transcribed (copied from recordings) by the students. Hmm, chops and ears.

“Las Cuarentas” was the first vocal of the evening, introducing us to the incredibly rich and truly outstanding voice of Jordan John. The only thing that betrayed the fact that he is still a student was his obvious youth and a certain awkwardness. The awkwardness more or less melted away when further into the evening he sang a gorgeous “Como Fue” that also melted the audience.

Bebo Valdes’ “Cachao, creador del mambo” featured some excellent soloing on trumpet, against a strong groove held by the rest of the band, some exciting bongo popping to the front from Lorie Wolf, a sensuous sax solo from La-Nai Gabriel and a piano solo from Marco de la Cruz that was simultaneously melodic and percussive. Mario Bauza’s “Mambo Inn” carried on the mambo groove with an opportunity for all of the trumpet players to solo.

Stephanie Tavares made her first appearance on stage singing “Que me Castigue Dios”, or as Luis Mario Ochoa explained in English “Let God punish me if I go back to that guy again”. Not only does Tavares have a great voice but she also has a seemingly relaxed and natural stage presence and an ability to get “inside” the song. Her second piece, ”Hay Que Saber Perder”, later in the evening was just as enjoyable.

Bebo Valdes' “Copla no 4” was an instrumental tour de force with flawless changes of tempo and rhythm and deep steady bass. Tito Puente’s “Dance Mania” was played at high speed and featured a ripping guitar solo from Phil Tesis. Even faster was Hilario Duran’s “Mambo Influenciado” which Ochoa warned us about, telling us to fasten our seatbelts. Duran himself reportedly told Ochoa he couldn’t make the band play the tune that fast but he did and they proved to be up to it. What’s more, they looked like they were having a great time!

Of course, the audience was not willing to let the band leave the stage and their demand for an encore was successful. It was Benny Moré’s “Como Arrullo de palma”, masterfully sung by Luis Mario Ochoa, beautifully backed by the Humber College Latin Jazz Big Band.