Synopsis
Born in 1923, Ernest Anthony "Tito" Puente grew up in the polyglot world of New York's East Harlem. Displaying an affinity for music from an early age, he was a fan of Benny Goodman's drummer Gene Krupa in particular, once winning a contest with a note-for-note performance of Krupa's solo on Goodman's "Sing, Sing, Sing." His precocious percussive abilities got him gigs in many notable Latin bands of the period, but his first big break came when he started performing with the legendary bandleader Machito, who featured him as a soloist. His rise to fame came soon after World War 2, with his formation of Tito Puente and His Orchestra. Steven Loza's comprehensive and well-researched portrait of Puente's life and work, TITO PUENTE AND THE MAKING OF LATIN MUSIC, provides a wealth of useful detail and commentary on the bandleader's career and importance to the postwar Latin music scene. With the aid of informative interviews with such major Latin musicians as Ray Santos, Poncho Sanchez, and Hilton Ruiz, Loza constructs a vivid portrayal of one of the towering figures of 20th-century Latin music.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1999-05-01 | | Series: | Music in American Life Series |
| Size | | Length: | 260 pages | | Height: | 10.5 in | | Width: | 7.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 31.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
Over the course of half a century Tito Puente's innovations as a drummer and a bandleader have shaped Latin music into its current compelling mix of Afro-Cuban music, salsa, and Latin jazz and exerted a significant influence on other musicians and musical genres. Steven Loza brings the man and his music vividly to life through exclusive interviews with Puente and a number of his close associates, including Hilton Ruiz, Ray Santos, Jerry Gonzalez, Poncho Sanchez, and Joe Conzo, as well as music journalist Max Salazar and former DJ/producer Chico Sesma. In addition, Loza shows us the social and cultural history of this music, exploring questions of nationalism and ethnic expression, the play between musical creation and commercial competition, and the politics of so-called multicuituralism as they bear on Latin music and musicians. Also included are detailed musical analyses and a discography of more than a hundred recordings.
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