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 Basic Test by Bobby Sanabria, 1990
Postscript by Bobby Sanabria, June 2000
PART
4: A DECADE OF FIRSTS
After
recording one of his favorite albums, the 1961 live
recording, "Puente in Hollywood," for Norman Granz's
GNP label, Tito
Puente returned to the friendly environment of
his former company Tico. The sixties would be years
of achievement and recognition for Puente. He would
make the first of several trips to Japan, where he
would be instrumental in popularizing Latin music.
In 1967 Tito would perform a program of his compositions
at The Metropolitan Opera. In 1968 he would host his
own show, "The World of Tito Puente," on Hispanic
TV and serve as Grand Marshall of the Puerto Rican
Day Parade. In 1969 Tito would receive the key to
the city of New York from Mayor John Lindsay. Tito
maintained a busy recording schedule during the 1960s,
recording a string of recordings with vocalists Celia
Cruz and La Lupe.
Salsa
and Santana
Some
time during the early 1970s, the music Tito was playing
came to be known as Salsa. Like other musicians of
his generation, Tito has trouble with the label. "Salsa
means sauce, literally; it's just a commercial term
for Afro-Cuban dance music which was used promote
the music. My idea is that we don't play sauce, we
play music, and Latin music has different styles:
cha-cha, mambo, guaguanco, and son. Salsa doesn't
address the complexities and the rich history of the
music that we play. But it's become accepted now and
it helped to get music promoted."
The
early 1970s also saw the meteoric rise of Carlos Santana
and his unique blend of Latin rhythm, blues, and rock.
Santana's cover version of Puente's classic composition
"Oye Como Va" (recorded originally by Tito in 1962)
on the "Abraxas" album introduced a whole new generation
to Tito's music. "Santana III" included another Puente
classic, "Para Los Rumberos," which he recorded in
1965. Both tunes became cult hits, receiving national
airplay and stimulating renewed worldwide interest."
New
York's Roseland Ballroom was the site of the first
meeting of Santana and Puente in March of 1977. Pablo
Guzman, who covered the concert dance for the Village
Voice, described the event: "Tito Puente opened his
set with "Salsa y Sabor" (an up-tempo guaracha), a
dancer's challenge moving at the speed of the #4 IRT
subway between 86th and 125th Streets...the folks
went wild." Guzman continued, describing Tito as,
"the consummate showman, waving his timbale sticks
over his head like a baton to cue the band. He is
the Muhammad Ali of Latin music, complete with shuffle
and rope a dope. After 40 years, when faced with a
challenge, the old man can still put it all together."
 Trust the Leader
The
late 1970s saw increased interest in percussion instruments
in the United Sates and abroad. In response to this
need, Martin
Cohen, founder and chairman of Latin Percussion,
decided to send a group of musicians to perform in
a series of educational clinics throughout Europe.
"I signed up Johnny Rodriguez, who played bongo with
Tito. Johnny got Tito involved. Carlos
'Patato' Valdez played conga and pianist Eddie
Martinez and bassists Sal Cuevas rounded out the quintet.
I was thrilled to have Tito involved in the project,"
stated Cohen. "He made a major impact on me dating
from the time I first saw him perform at The Palladium
back in the early 1960s. It wasn't until a few years
later that I got to know Tito on a personal level.
By this time Latin Percussion was in its infancy and
I used a set of Tito's Cuban-made timbales and timbalitos
as a basis for the prototype of my ribbed shell design.
I based the 'Trust the Leader' promotional campaign
on Tito's supreme skills as a bandleader and musician."
The
quintet, which Cohen named the Latin
Percussion Jazz Ensemble, gave a series of successful
concerts and seminars throughout Europe. Cohen spent
several months on tour with the group. "It was a unique
privilege for me," he recalls, "hanging out with one
of my heroes. Through all the traveling and things
that can go wrong on the road, Tito remained a constant
source of inspiration. His sharp wit always kept me
smiling. Probably the most memorable occasion for
me was when Tito performed with Toots Thielman, the
jazz harmonica player, in a concert commemorating
the 1000th anniversary of the city of Brussels. It
was electrifying!"
In
1979, the ensemble toured Japan, where the reception
for Tito was tremendous."It was here, I believe,"
states Martin
Cohen, "that Tito realized he had achieved worldwide
popularity."
Tito would win his first Grammy award in 1979
for the album "A Tribute to Benny Moore." Later that
year, members of the Latin music community and Latin
NY Magazine honored him with a testimonial roast.
At the end of the affair, Joe Conzo remembers, "we
had received all of these checks given by the patrons
of the roast and we didn't know what to do with them.
We decided to set up a scholarship fund in Tito's
name to help support the education of musically gifted
youth. "The scholarship fund," states Tito, "was a
dream of mine for a long time. In the Latin community
we have a lot of gifted youngsters who don't get an
opportunity to develop their talent because of lack
of money. Long after I'm gone, the fund will be helping
kids." Over fifty grants have been awarded since the
inception of the ten-year-old fund.
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