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Tito Puente, Sr., (April 20, 1923–May 31, 2000), born Ernesto Antonio Puente, Jr., was a Latin Jazz and Mambo musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey" (the King) of the timbales and "The King of Latin Music". 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 The Cosby Show and The Simpsons.

Biography

Preston Was Here

Honors

During the presidency of Sen. Roberto Rexach Benítez, Tito Puente received the unique honor of not only having a special session of the Senate of Puerto Rico dedicated to him, but being allowed to perform in his unique style on the floor of the Senate while it was in session.

On September 10, 2007, a United States Post Office in Harlem was named after him at a ceremony presided by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Rep. José Serrano (D-NY).

An amphitheatre was named in his honor at Luis Muñoz Marín Park, next to the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Puente performed at the closing ceremonies at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. The timbales he used there are on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.

In 1997, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

Discography

As leader

Dance Mania (1958)
Percussion's King (1997)
Selection of Mambo & Cha Cha Cha (1997)
50 Years of Swing (1997)
Tito Meets Machito: Mambo Kings (1997)
Cha Cha Cha Rumba Beguine (1998)
Dance Mania '98: Live at Birdland (1998)
The Very Best of Tito Puente (1998)
Timbalero Tropical (1998)
Yambeque (1998)
Absolute Best (1999)
Carnival (1999)
Colección original (1999)
Golden Latin Jazz All Stars: In Session (1999)
Latin Flight (1999)
Latin Kings (1999)
Lo mejor de lo mejor (1999)
Mambo Birdland (1999)
Special Delivery featuring Maynard Ferguson (1999)
Rey (2000)
His Vibes & Orchestra (2000)
Cha Cha Cha for Lovers (2000)
Homenaje a Beny Moré. Vol. 3 (2000)
Dos ídolos. Su música (2000)
Tito Puente y su Orquesta Mambo (2000)
The Complete RCA Recordings. Vol. 1 (2000)
The Best of the Concord Years (2000)
Por fin (Finally) (2000)
Party with Puente! (2000)
Obra maestra (2000)
Mambo Mambo (2000)
Mambo King Meets the Queen of Salsa (2000)
Latin Abstract (2000)
Kings of Mambo (2000)
Cha Cha Cha for Lovers (2000)
The Legends Collection: Tito Puente & Celia Cruz (2001)
The Complete RCA Recordings, Vol. 2 (2001)
RCA Recordings (2001)
Puente caliente (2001)
The Best of... (2001)
King of Mambo (2001)
El Rey: Pa'lante! Straight! (2001)
Cocktail Hour (2001)
Selection. King of Mambo (2001)
Herman Meets Puente (2001)
Undisputed (2001)
Fiesta (2002)
Colección Diamante (2002)
Tito Puente y Celia Cruz (2002)
Live at the Playboy Jazz Festival (2002)
King of Kings: The Very Best of Tito Puente (2002)
Hot Timbales! (2002)
Dr. Feelgood (2002)
Carnaval de éxitos (2002)
Caravan Mambo (2002)
We Love Salsa (2006)

As sideman

With Dizzy Gillespie

Rhythmstick (1990)

Filmography

Documentary Films

Tito Puente: The King of Latin Music (2000)^[1]
PROFILES featuring Tito Puente Jr. (2007)
Latin Knights (2005)
Calle 54 (2000)^[2]

Concert Films

Tito Puente - Live in Montreal (Montreal Jazz Festival) (2003)

References

External links

Tito Puente at NPR Music
Tito Puente on the Internet Movie Database
"Tito Puente: The Complete 78s (1949-1955)" by Ted Giorgia (Jazz.com)
Tito Puente - King of Latin Music, by Jim Payne and Tito Puente.
Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts

Template:Persondata

[1] Fresh Bread’s work in the entertainment - Tito Puente

[2] IMDB

[1]

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 ==Biography==
+Preston Was Here
-Tito Puente Sr. served in the Navy for three years during [[World War II]] after being drafted in 1942. He was discharged with a Presidential Commendation for serving in nine battles. The [[GI Bill]] allowed him to study music at [[Juilliard School of Music]], where he completed a formal education in conducting, orchestration and theory. In 1969, he received the key to the [[City of New York]] from former Mayor [[John Lindsay]]. In 1992 he was inducted into the National Congressional Record, and in 1993 he received the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal from the Smithsonian.<ref>[http://newsdesk.si.edu/awards/awards_medals.htm Awards and Medals from Smithsonian]</ref>
-During the 1950s, Puente was at the height of his popularity, and helped to bring Afro-Cuban and Caribbean sounds, like [[Mambo (music)|mambo]], [[Son (music)|son]], and [[Cha-cha-cha (music)|cha-cha-cha]], to mainstream audiences (he was so successful playing popular Afro-Cuban rhythms that many people mistakenly identify him as Cuban). ''[[Dance Mania (album)|Dance Mania]]'', possibly Puente's most well known album was released in 1958.<ref>Wilds, Tony. ''[[Allmusic]]''. "[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:gifrxqqgldje Dance Mania Review]".</ref> Later, he moved into more diverse sounds, including [[pop music]], [[bossa nova]] and others, eventually settling down with a fusion of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres that became known as "salsa" (a term that he disliked). In 1979 Puente won the first of five [[Grammy Awards]] for the albums ''A Tribute to Benny Moré'', ''On Broadway'', ''Mambo Diablo'', and ''Goza Mi Timbal''. In 1990, Puente was awarded the "James Smithson Bicentennial Medal." He was also awarded a Grammy at the first [[Latin Grammy Award]]s, winning [[Best Traditional Tropical Album]] for ''[[Mambo Birdland]]''. He was posthumously awarded the [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]] in 2000. After a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] following a show in Puerto Rico, Puente had [[heart surgery]] in [[New York City]], from which he never recovered. He died on May 31, 2000, just a few months after shooting for the music video [[Calle 54]], in which Puente was wearing an all-white outfit with his band. <ref>[[Calle 54]] Video Commentary</ref>
-Tito Puente's name is often mentioned in a television production called [http://laepocafilm.com "'''La Epoca''',"], a film about [[Palladium Ballroom#Palladium starts featuring Latin music|the Palladium era]] in New York, Afro-Cuban music and rhythms, Mambo and Salsa as dances and music and much more. The film discusses many of Tito Puente's as well as Arsenio Rodriguez's contributions, and features interviews with some of the musicians Puente recorded with such as [[Alfonso Joseph|Alfonso "El Panameno" Joseph]], Luis Mangual, Julian Lianos and others.
-Puente son, [[Tito Puente, Jr.]], has continued his father's legacy by presenting many of the same songs in his performances and recordings, while his daughter [[Audrey Puente]] is a [[meteorologist]] for the local evening news broadcast on [[WNYW]].
 ==Honors==