Ernesto Antonio “Tito” Puente was born on April 23, 1923, at Harlem Hospital Center in New York City. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000) was a Latin jazz and salsa musician and composer. The son of native Puerto Ricans, Ernest and Ercilia Puente, living in New York City's Spanish Harlem community, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" (The King of the timbales) and "The King of Latin Music". His family moved frequently, but he spent the majority of his childhood in the Spanish Harlem area of the city. Puente's father was the foreman at a razorblade factory. As a child, he was described as hyperactive, and after neighbors complained of hearing seven-year-old Puente beating on pots and window frames, his mother sent him to 25 cent piano lessons. By age 10, he switched to percussion, drawing influence from jazz drummer Gene Krupa. He later created a song-and-dance duo with his sister Anna in the 1930s and intended to become a dancer, but an ankle tendon injury prevented him pursuing dance as a career. When the drummer in Machito's band was drafted to the army, Puente subsequently took his place He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz compositions that helped keep his career going for 50 years. He and his music appear in many films such as The Mambo Kings and Fernando Trueba's Calle 54. He guest starred on several television shows including Sesame Street, The Cosby Show and The Simpsons
Discography
l Absolute Best (1999)
l Cha Cha Rumba Beguine (1998)
l Carnival (1999)
l Colección original (1999)
l Cha Cha Cha for Lovers (2000)
l Dance Mania '98: Live at Birdland (1998)
l Dos ídolos. Su música (2000)
l El Rey: Bravo (1963)
l El Rey: Tito Puente & His Latin Ensemble (1984)
l Golden Latin Jazz All Stars: In Session (1999)
l His Vibes & Orchestra (2000)
l Homenaje a Beny Moré. Vol. 3 (2000
l Latin Flight (1999)
l Latin Kings (1999)
l Lo mejor de lo mejor (1999)
l Mambo Birdland (1999)
l Percussion's King (1997)
l Puente In Percussion (1956)
l Selection of Mambo & Cha Cha Cha (1997)
l 50 Years of Swing (1997)
l Tito Meets Machito: Mambo Kings (1997)
l The Very Best of Tito Puente (1998)
l Timbalero Tropical (1998)
Thanks for Nancy Germain' s work.
Photos by Angelica Bautista.
Thanks for Nancy Germain' s work.
Photos by Angelica Bautista.
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