Tito Puente Festival
at LatinJazzClub Magazine
Remembering Tito Puente
Jesse "Chuy" Varela
Music Director - KCSM
JAZZ 91, San Mateo, CA.
Host: Latin Jazz Show - Sun. 2-6pm.
Tito Puente - The Myth, The
Legend, The Man
Maybe someday somebody will
do a movie on Tito Puente. Wouldn⤙t that
be cool?
I miss Tito. He was a sparkplug
for this music. As a percussionist-timbalero he was a masterful
stylist who took American trap drum techniques and adapted them
to the pailas. Much like Coleman Hawkins inspired many to play
tenor saxophone as the first star of the instrument, Tito did
the same for timbales, the condensed cousin of the tympani.
Important was Tito⤙s
belief in playing for the people. It garnered him fame at the
Palladium Ballroom in NYC. As a result he became a pied piper
of mambo and started expanding his audience by touring out West
into the early 1950s. At a time of institutionalized segregation,
he played the places regulated to Latinos like the Centro Social
Obrero in SF and the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Everywhere
he went he cultivated talent with influence.
In the Bay Area the list is
long. Santana, Pete & Coke Escovedo, Gibby Ross, Sheila Escovedo,
Karl Perazzo, John Santos, Rebeca Mauleon-Santana and others.
Personally it was an interview that I did with Tito Puente in
1984 at Ivy⤙s (Jack London Square,
Oakland) that got me doing the Latin Jazz Show at KJAZ, the legendary
Bay Area jazz station. Music Director Bob Parlocha said he couldn⤙t
come down to the station to be on live but was available for
a taped interview. Bob asked if I was into doing it? Seguro que
si! I had already been volunteering at community stations KBBF
in Sebastopol, CA. and KPFA, Berkeley and getting into news reporting.
So I went down with my trusty Sony tape recorder and mike and
sat down for an hour with this legend.
Tito was a gentleman and though
consequently I would interview him countless times after, this
initial meeting was by far the best. Talking about his early
days with detailed insight and opinions about the term salsa
and fusion in his Nuyoriqueño pace and accent,
I chopped it up, mixed it with music and put it on. Calls poured
in! A few weeks later I was offered the opportunity to host the
Latin Jazz Show on KJAZ, Sunday nights at 8pm.
The next time Tito came through
I told him what happened. â¤Now you got to keep
it,â¤* he said. It's hard getting to the top but
it⤙s been even harder staying there. Into
the 1980s with Concord Records Tito was out here alot. Thanks
to Stan Dunn, KJAZ morning drive host, who was working at Concord,
I was lucky enough to attend a couple of Puente recording sessions
at Coast Recorders in SF. All I can say is that Tito didn⤙t
waste tape.
The first time I saw Tito
Puente was at Winterland in SF in the early 1970s on a bill with
Azteca and Malo. Everyone put on a great set but it was the mega-descarga
at the end with Santana sitting in that topped a night of many
memorable moments. The UC Berkeley Greek Theater concert with
Tower of Power was cool and the Latin jazz years of the late
1970s and early 1980s at Bay Area clubs like Keystone Korner,
Great American Music Hall and Cesar⤙s Latin
Palace.
Tito Puente was a great role
model who shared important values and standards with his community.
The establishment of his scholarship fund helped many students
advance their formal musical studies. The countless benefits,
appearences in schools, interviews on radio and TV, Tito, much
like Dizzy Gillespie, was not only a great musician but an inspiring
humanitarian.
He was the ambassador of Latin
jazz and Salsa much like Louie Armstrong was an ambassador of
jazz. As he gained prestige he never forgot the humble roots
he came from and gave back much more than he took. I miss Tito
pero gracias a dios por memorias.
TITO LIVES!
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
