Results for "Tito Puente"

Tito Puente

Ernest Anthony Puente, Jr., Tito Puente is internationally recognized for his enormous and significant contributions to Latin music as a bandleader, composer, arranger, percussionist, and mentor. Popularly known as the “El Rey del Timbal” and the “King of Mambo”, he recorded more than 100 albums, published more than 400 compositions, and won six Grammy awards. Although he played and recorded jazz and salsa, Puente is one of only a handful of musicians who deserve the title “legendary”, primarily for his mastery of the mambo. Puente has been credited with introducing the timbal and the vibraphone to Afro-Cuban music, Puente also played the trap drums, the conga drums, the claves, the piano, and occasionally, the saxophone and the clarinet. While Puente was perhaps best known for his all-time best- selling 1958 mambo album “Dance Mania”, his eclectic sound has continued to transcend cultural and generational boundaries

Chick Corea: In The Present Tense

By JIM WORSLEY

What can you say about music icon Chick Corea that hasn't already been said? His past, his career has been honored, dissected, and revered. As it should be. A composer and pianist of unparalleled skills and accomplishments, Corea's place in music history continues to plateau. In conversation with Corea, we centered mostly on what hasn't been ...

Arturo O'Farrill: Four Questions

By JEROME WILSON

Surprisingly this set marks the first time Arturo O'Farrill has recorded a set of solely his own compositions. It was worth the wait because this music, played by his Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, really demonstrates the cinematic sweep and variety of his writing. The set is constructed around two topical extended works. The first, ...

Alexa Tarantino: Passion For Playing And Teaching

By R.J. DELUKE

Alexa Tarantino was bitten by the jazz bug at a young age. She was fortunate to grow up in a community where jazz is an important part of the musical fabric—rare these days. She swiftly grabbed hold of the music and has developed into an in-demand alto saxophonist, earning a series of high-profile gigs that slowed ...

Jazz in the Time of Pandemic

By KARL ACKERMANN

The first week of April 2020: images crystalized the daily news reports; a dystopian Times Square; Piazza Navona in Rome, emptied of tourists, Barcelona's Basílica de la Sagrada Família standing like an abstract ruin, makeshift morgues in hospital parking lots. The jazz world is small but still a microcosm of society with interdependencies that run deep. ...

Samuel Torres: The Interfuse of Percussion and Orchestration

By JIM WORSLEY

Samuel Torres is a percussionist extraordinaire. Samuel Torres is an exceptional composer. Samuel Torres is an astute arranger. Samuel Torres has vast skills as an orchestrator. All of those statements are valid responses to the question, who is Samuel Torres? The Colombian born artist, who now makes his home in New York City, has, as they ...

Take Five with Maureen Choi

By MAUREEN CHOI

Meet Maureen Choi Now residing in Spain, this Korean-American violinist is sparkling a revolution in the improvised music scene in Spain. Her band Maureen Choi Quartet is creating a sound that they describe as, “Spanish Chamber Jazz." After winning several international violin competitions starting at age five, Maureen has performed as a soloist across ...

Jimmy Haslip: Amperes Beyond The BASSics, Part 1

By JIM WORSLEY

The name Jimmy Haslip needs no introduction. So, he doesn't get one. Seriously, we had a lot of ground to cover and he had so many great stories and interesting asides to share that we are breaking the interview into two parts as it is. So, without further ado... All About Jazz: I ...