jazz appreciation month and tito puente

I was listening to NPR the other evening on the drive home and they featured a story on Jazz Appreciation Month and talked about Tito Puente (sometimes known as "El Rey"), my favorite Latin jazz musician. Tito Puente has moved on from our world, but he's definitely left behind an amazing legacy as his son mentioned in the interview I was listening to. To his son, Tito Puente, Jr., dad was just dad, you know, "son, go take out the garbage." It wasn't until later when the junior started to appreciate Latin jazz and realize how much of an impact the senior had in the musical genre. Great interview.

Anyone interested in Smithsonian Jazz Cafe, Friday nights through April at the National Museum of Natural History?

Tito Puente's charisma comes out not only in his music, but his performances too. I've only seen a few of Tito's performances though. I saw him in an incredible performance on the BET Jazz channel (when I used to have digital cable). I was really fortunate to see him live, for free, right here in Washington on the National Mall for the Fourth of July a couple of years ago. I think most everyone's seen him on The Simpsons when the school strikes it rich and hires Tito Puente as the music teacher. Remember when he sang Senor Burns in the episode?


(Image courtesy of The Simpsons and FOX)

If you are a fan or if you are interested in Latin jazz, I highly recommend Calle 54, a documentary/performance film, available on DVD. There's very little talking in the film itself, mainly just performances, but the watching the performers and listening to the music speaks so much more than any dialogue could describe. I think it depends on your tastes though, you could be bored if you're not into it, but there's only one way to find out if you're into it or not, and that's to try it :) The film also captures one of Tito Puente's last performances.


Tito Puente in Calle 54
(Photo courtesy of Miramax)