ARTS San Antonio presents
Tito Puente
Birthday Celebration

Video: Agua Limpia Todo - Tito Puente, Jr. (Featuring Jose Arroyo)

“After the first number, the small temporary dance floor was crowded with both nostalgic couples who had danced to these songs at the Palladium and more youthful salsa enthusiasts . . . Tito Puente, Jr. provided his appreciative audience with a show to remember.”

The late Tito Puente, Sr. was a legendary Latin jazz and salsa musician often called “The King of Latin Music.” The winner of five Grammy awards, Puente was at the height of his popularity during the 1950s, and helped to bring Afro-Cuban and Caribbean sounds, like mambo, son and cha-cha-cha, to mainstream audiences. 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). Puente was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

Do you like Latin Jazz and Salsa? This evening is for you. Tito Puente, Jr., whose father Tito Puente was renowned worldwide for his prowess in playing timbales as well as for a successful career in composition and arranging that spanned six decades, emulates his father's characteristic timbales out front style of playing with an enthusiastic timbales solo. Since his father’s death, Puente Jr. has devoted himself to playing his father’s music. His stated goal of maintaining his father's memory and style is obvious in the way he handles the sticks and even in the way he dresses. Puente, Jr. performs “Afro-Cuban music with a New York style."

Agua Limpia Todo - Tito Puente, Jr.
(Featuring Jose Arroyo)