Tito puente family members

Tito puente wife
Tito puente death
Where was tito puente born

•

Tito Puente

(1923-2000)

Who Was Tito Puente?

Tito Puente, donned the "King of Latin Jazz," was a pioneering force in Latin music, known for fusing styles and putting a big-band spin on traditional Latin music. In 1948, Puente formed a band that would become known as the Tito Puente Orchestra. A decade later, he released his best-selling album, Dance Mania (1958). His most notable songs include "Babarabatiri," "Ran Kan Kan" and "Oye Como Va." By the end of his decades-long career, Puente was deemed a musical legend in Latin music and jazz circles.

Early Life

Famed jazz composer and bandleader Tito Puente was born Ernesto Antonio Puente Jr. in New York City on April 20, 1923. Puente grew up in New York City's Spanish Harlem and became a professional musician at age 13. He learned to play a number of instruments as a child, beginning with the piano and then moving to percussion, saxophone, vibraphone and timbales (paired high-pitched drums).

After an apprenticeship in the historic Machito Orchestra, Puente was drafted into the U.S

•

Tito Puente

American Latin jazz and mambo musician (1923–2000)

Musical artist

Ernest AnthonyPuente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000),^[1] commonly known as TitoPuente, was a Puerto Rico musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also known as “El Rey de los Timbales,” or “The King of the Timbales.”

Puente and his music have appeared in films including The Mambo Kings and Fernando Trueba's Calle 54. He guest-starred on television shows, including Sesame Street and The Simpsons's two-part episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?".

Early life

Puente was born on April 20, 1923, at Harlem Hospital Center in the New Yorkborough of Manhattan, the son of Ernest and Felicia Puente, Puerto Ricans living in New York City's Spanish Harlem.^[2]^[3] His family moved frequently, but he spent the majority of his childhood in Spanish Harlem.^[2] Puente's father was the foreman at a razor blade factory.^[4] His family called him Ernestito, Spani

•

Tito Puente is the face of Latin music for many people. His showmanship, musical talent, and dedication to performing kept him in the spotlight from his early performances in the 1940s until his death in 2000. He was born in 1923 in Spanish Harlem to parents who were both Puerto Rican immigrants. The sounds of Puerto Rican and Cuban music filled his childhood and influenced his music, as did the big band sounds he loved to listen to on the radio. His early interest in drumming prompted noise complaints from his family's neighbors, who begged his mother to get Tito lessons.

Puente's talent blossomed with his drumming lessons, and in the '40s he joined the Machito Orchestra when their drummer was drafted for World War II. This was his big break, and Puente played with them until he was also drafted into the Navy. After the war, Puente went to the Julliard School of Music on the G.I. Bill to study music and orchestration, and in 1948 he formed his own band and began developing his distinctive performance style.

Tito Puente was known for his blending of Latin and jazz so