first of several recordings with his own groups. Recording The original LP and recording sessions were completed on a highly compressed timeline. Before the first notes of Recuerdos and Fuego Cubano where recorded on May 22, 1956, Kenton and his orchestra had been on a two-month tour of Europe (set sail back from Cherbourg, France to New York on May 10) with only having looked at "El Congo Valiente" beforehand. The band had less than a week to prepare while in New York. While the great majority of the personnel for the LP was on tour, Richards had taken great care to meticulously rehearse the suite with the Latin percussionists who would be added for three days of recording. Though the listing for the liner notes contains six trumpets, only five are called for in Richards' scores. Due to the 'heavy lifting' the music required for the brass section, a rotation of trumpet players was utilized on the sessions. A discarded part of the suite entitled "Alma Pecadora" (Soul of a Sinner) with the heading "Cuban Fire Suite" had been rejected due to quality issues as compared to the other movements. "Tres Corazones" (three hearts) is recorded on May 24 as the last of the three days but never makes it on the Cuban Fire! LP pressing; it does appear on a later Kenton LP release for Capitol Records in 1965. (disputed as to this cut being a part of the suite). Soloists Soloists are abundant on the original recording of the Cuban Fire! suite; the most interesting of them being the tenor saxophonist Lucky Thompson. The Thompson tenor solos on the second half of "Fuego Cubano" and the up tempo "Quien Sabe" are a new addition and contrast to the normal style and harmonic/melodic practices of known Kenton tenor sidemen Bill Perkins, Zoot Sims, and later Bill Trujillo. Along with the addition of Thompson, jazz musicians including Carl Fontana, Lennie Niehaus, Sam Noto, and Mel Lewis are prominent in solo spots adding to the status of the dates. Thompson and Curtis Counce (bass) on the Cuban Fire! sessions (and previous tour) serve as positive credits in the dispelling of myth about Kenton having racist tendencies towards the hiring of sidemen. CD reissue The tracks on the Cuban Fire! CD numbered 8-12 are an interesting set of recordings from a time of change for the Kenton orchestra beginning in 1960.