by Tony Wilds
Contrary to the title, Cugi's Cocktails is no sleepy album of &cocktail music.& It has all the elements a listener would expect of Xavier Cugat's first great stereo album: an agreeable theme, a dash of exotic flair, and all the bombast of the preceding half-decade of experimenting with high-fidelity stereo recording. &One Mint Julep& would have made Twist With Cugat. Also of note are the bossa nova &Daiquiri,& Hal Mooney's &Cugi's Cocktail& (a &hully gully cha cha&), and &Singapore Sling.& Cugat's composition &Zombie& is exotic and wonderful, and only &Old-Fashioned& is dismissible. With fun, metaphor-laden liner notes and better than average artwork, Cugi's Cocktails makes a fine addition to any record collection or bar.