Tito Puente Recommended Listening

It's really impossible to name just one or two albums, since Sr. Puente made over a hundred, but these are a great starting point. 

50 Years of Swing

a 3-CD set covering 50 songs. A great introduction to Puente's music.

listen to Tito Play on this cut, Tigimo+2, featuring Tito, Giovanni Hidalgo, & Mongo Santamaria 

Top Percussion (1992, click song titles to listen to song samples)

"Simply put, this date is a once-in-a-lifetime summit meeting of Cuban and Puerto Rican master percussionists of Afro-Cuban music: Mongo Santamaria, Franciso Aguabella, Willie Bobo, and Julito Collazo. Together, these masters explore the endless folkloric inventions and dimensions of Cuba's complex drum music-- from the Afrocentric bembe/Santeria syncopations of "Eleguara" and "Obatala Yeza" to the clave-coded "Mon Ti," "Four by Two," and "Conga Alegre." The "hit" is the cool cha-cha "Ti-Mon-Bo," named for Tito, Mongo, and Bobo. Like their African musical forefathers, Tito Puente and his compatriots have delivered an ancestral drum message that has danced and entranced musicians and listeners for years." --Eugene Holley Jr., Amazon Reviews

Tito Puente was born in New York City in 1923 to a family of Puerto Rican descent, planning to become a dancer before an ankle injury channeled his creative energies into music. By the time he was 13, Puente was drumming for Ramon Olivero's band, later formally studying composition at the Julliard and New York Schools of Music. Combining traditional Latin-American music with North American jazz, Puente formed his own band in his mid-20s, the Picadilly Boys, which later evolved into a full orchestra.

Over the next several decades the prolific Puente released scores of albums on the Tico and RCA Victor labels, popularizing Latin music among Anglo audiences during the 1950s. A multi-talented musician, Puente freely switched between saxophone, conga drums, bongos and vibraphones, composing, arranging, conducting, and performing with his orchestra. The group freely switched between cha-cha, mambo, bossa nova, salsa, jazz and pop, demonstrating Puente's genius for cross-cultural and stylistic fusion. Puente, known was "The King of the Mambo," continued performing and recording throughout the '60s, gaining new fans during the close of the decade thanks to Santana's cover of the Puente classic "Oye Como Va." His band continued to evolve during the 1970s, and in the early 1980s Puente moved to the more jazz-oriented Concord Picante label. He recorded his 100th album, The Mambo King, in 1991, marked by a massive tribute performance in Los Angeles. Sr. Puente died on June 1, 2000.

Here's a link to the LP Tito Puente tribute page

 AP video: Puente honored
at New York's Latin Quarter
club shortly before his death
(Requires free RealPlayer)