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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Tito Puente| image = TitoPuente.jpg| caption =| image_size = 150| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist| birth_name = Ernesto Antonio Puente| alias = Tito Puente "El Rey de los Timbales" The King of Latin Music| Born = Birth date|1923|4|20| death_date = death date and age|df=yes|2000|6|01|1923|4|20| origin = New York City | genre = Afro-Cuban jazz , Mambo (music)|mambo , Salsa music|salsa | occupation = Musician, Record producer|producer | instrument = Timbales , Vibraphone | years_active =1946 - 2000| label =| associated_acts = La Lupe Tito Puente , (April 20, 1923 & ndash; June 1, 2000) http://www.bookrags.com/biography/tito-puente/, born Ernesto Antonio Puente , was a Latin jazz and Salsa music ian. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City , Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" (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 star red on several television shows including Sesame Street , The Cosby Show and The Simpsons .
Career
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 Unit Citation (United States)|Presidential Unit Citation for serving in nine battles on the escort carrier USS Santee (CVE-29) . 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. http://newsdesk.si.edu/awards/awards_medals.htm Awards and Medals from Smithsonian
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.Wilds, Tony. Allmusic . "Allmusic|class=album|id=r102243|pure_url=yes Dance Mania Review". 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 . In 1995, he appeared as himself on the Simpsons episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns? " In early 2000, he shot the music documentary Calle 54 , wearing an all-white outfit with his band. Calle 54 Video Commentary After a show in Puerto Rico on May 31, he suffered a massive heart attack and was flown to New York City for surgery to repair a heart valve , but complications developed and he died during the night of May 31 – June 1, 2000.cite news|url= http://archives.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/01/tito.puente/index.html|title=Latin musician Tito Puente dies after heart surgery|date=June 1, 2000|publisher=CNN|accessdate=June 1, 2010 He was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.
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's youngest son, Tito Puente, Jr. , has continued his father's legacy by presenting many of the same songs in his performances and recordings, while daughter Audrey Puente is a television meteorologist for WNYW and WWOR-TV in New York City.
Awards and recognition
During the presidency of Sen. Roberto Rexach Benítez , Tito Puente received the unique honor of having both a special session of the Senate of Puerto Rico dedicated to him, and 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 Spanish Harlem was named after him at a ceremony presided by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Rep. José Enrique Serrano|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 . http://www.nea.gov/honors/medals/medalists_year.html#97 Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts
In 1990 he received a Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. (ref Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce)
In 1984 he received an honorary Decree from the Los Angeles City Council.
On June 5, 2005, Puente was honored by Union City, New Jersey with a star on the Walk of Fame at Union City's Celia Cruz Park.Rosero, Jessica. http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2405226/article--La-vida-es-un-carnaval--North-Hudson-celebrates-6th-annual-Cuban-Day-Parade? "'La vida es un carnaval' North Hudson celebrates 6th annual Cuban Day Parade" The Hudson Reporter ; May 26, 2006
Tito Puente - Live in Montreal (Montreal Jazz Festival) (1983) (2003)
Quotation
cquote|We play jazz with the Latin touch, that's all, you know.cite book| first= Paul | last= Du Noyer | year= 2003 | title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music | edition= 1st | publisher= Flame Tree Publishing | location= Fulham, London | isbn= 1-904041-96-5 | page= 148
References
Reflist
Further reading
Steven Loza (1999) Tito Puente and the Making of Latin Music , University of Illinois Press
Josephine Powell (2007) "Tito Puente:When The Drums Are Dreaming", (Authorhouse 2007)
External links
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php? storyId=15404859 Tito Puente at NPR Music
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005328/ Tito Puente on the Internet Movie Database
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http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2008/9/16/tito-puente-78s "Tito Puente: The Complete 78s (1949-1955)" by Ted Giorgia ( http://www.jazz.com Jazz.com)
http://eldiariony.com/noticias/detail.aspx? section=17& desc=LOCALES& id=1714119 Tito Puente - King of Latin Music, by Jim Payne and Tito Puente
Persondata|NAME= Puente, Tito |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Puente, Sr., Tito; Antonio Puente, Jr., Ernesto |SHORT DESCRIPTION=Latin jazz and mambo musician |DATE OF BIRTH= April 20, 1923 |PLACE OF BIRTH= New York City |DATE OF DEATH= June 1, 2000 |PLACE OF DEATH= New York City DEFAULTSORT:Puente, Tito Category:1923 births Category:2000 deaths Category:Latin jazz drummers Category:American jazz drummers Category:Puerto Rican jazz musicians Category:Jazz vibraphonists Category:Salsa musicians Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:Jazz bandleaders Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:People from New York City Category:Mambo musicians Category:RCA Victor artists Category:United States Navy sailors Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:Juilliard School alumni Category:Cuban jazz (genre) percussionists Category:Percussionists Category:Jazz percussionists Category:Timbale players Category:Vibraphonists Category:Fania Records artists Category:American people of Puerto Rican descent
