Puente tito biography

Tito Puente is the face of Latin music for many people. His showmanship, musical talent, and dedication to performing kept him in the spotlight from his early performances in the s until his death in He was born in in Spanish Harlem to parents who were both Puerto Rican immigrants.

The sounds of Puerto Rican and Cuban music filled his childhood and influenced his music, as did the big band sounds he loved to listen to on the radio. His early interest in drumming prompted noise complaints from his family's neighbors, who begged his mother to get Tito lessons. 

Puente's talent blossomed with his drumming lessons, and in the '40s he joined the Machito Orchestra when their drummer was drafted for World War II.

 This was his big break, and Puente played with them until he was also drafted into the Navy. After the war, Puente went to the Julliard School of Music on the G.I. Bill to study music and orchestration, and in he form