Tito Puente Festival
at LatinJazzClub Magazine
Remembering Tito Puente
Mark Weinstein (New York City)
flutist, trombone
When I first started to play
with Eddie, Barry (Rogers) would make me stand in front of Tito's
band when ever we played opposite him in order to soak up the
bast of the best. I later came to appreciate just what a master
musician he was when I had the opportunity to record with the
band on a number of CD's in the 60's. When he added a bone section
to his arrangements he had a wonderful sense of how bones could
add to the trumpets and saxes of his working band.
When I first started writing
for bones and trumpets for Charlie Palmieri, Tito noticed my
charts and was warm and complimentary. Tito was always open to
new sounds and incorporated them into his music continuously
throughout his career.
He amplified the role that
the bones played in Benny More's band setting the stage for the
large stage bands playing latin jazz today.
Richie Gajate (San Francisco, CA)
Percussionist
Tito Puente was the reason
I got into timbale playing in the first place. He use to be a
good friend of my dads and every time he came to Puerto Rico
there would be a party at our home and of course there would
be a jam. I was about 15 years old. Since then he has been an
ambassador to all Latino musicians. He opened many doors outside
the Latin world and helped make Latin music what it is today.
His brilliant career and timbale playing inspired us all.
Michael Bongard (Ottawa, Ontario
Canada)
Host, "The Latin
Train", CHUO 89.1 FM
University of Ottawa
I became aware of Tito Puente
and his music in a roundabout way. I was studying in Granada,
Spain in 1993-'94 and became friends with an African man, from
Togo but raised in Paris, who had a Latin-music bar in Granada,
as well as hosting a local Latin radio show.
Over the next few months he
would become my musical mentor as I exposed myself, through him,
to Latin jazz, salsa and Cuban son. And his favourite musician
was Tito Puente! He'd had the good fortune to meet Tito in '93
when the latter was on tour with Celia Cruz in Seville, and managed
to wrangle a backstage pass to spend time with these artists,
take photos, swap war stories of life on the road, etc. (My friend
was also a musician). It was evident from how he described "El
Rey" to me, with such obvious love and respect, that Tito
was by far at the top of his personal musical pantheon of gods
and I've always been grateful for the time he spent with me sharing
Tito's most important recordings, from the Palladium days to
the present.
Since returning home, I've
kept up my personal quest to build a Tito Puente library, which
currently comprises every album from 1980 until his death in
2000. I've gasped in awe, along with the entire audience, at
his performances in "Del son a la salsa" and "Calle
54". And I've lamented the gaping hole in the Latin music
world he left behind when he passed so suddenly. But mostly I've
cherished the special memories of a dear friend half a world
away, whom I met through Tito and who in turn schooled me in
Tito's very special contributions to this music we all cherish.
Gracias, Tito: sigues siendo
el Rey!
READ MORE:
Noted musicians, Jazz Journalists,
radio hosts reflect on the life and times of the "King of
Latin Music" Tito Puente: Larry
Harlow, Sonny Bravo, Jose Madera, John Santos, Arturo O'Farrill, Howard
Mandel, Victor Mendoza, JC Johnny Conga, Ruben
Rodriguez, Rudy Mangual, Ralph Irizarry, Mark Levine, Erik
Chico Manqueros, Vicki Sola', Cuban
Pete & Barbara Craddock, Chembo Corniel, Luis Moreno, Bob
DeSena, Ramiro Burr, Dr. Jazz, Kevin Espinosa, Nina
Olson, Andrea Brachfeld,
Mark Weinstein, Richie Gajate, Michael Bongard, Jesse "Chuy"
Varela, Memo Acevedo,
Norberto Rivera, Richard John
Cadena, Trevor Salloum,
Rae Arroyo, Mark Holston, Thomas
Peña, Yosvany
Terry Cabrera, Tomas Algarin
BUY
TITO PUENTE MUSIC
This interview was edited
by
Bobby Ramirez
br@latinjazzclub.com
Photo by Jorge Garcia from
the album: Tito Puente Mambo Birdland
