Post by TITO PUENTE, JR.

As we close out this Hispanic Heritage Month today hopefully you all learned a little more about my father and the impact that has made in Latin and America pop culture. #ErnestAnthonyPuenteJr (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000) #Tito  was an American musician of Puerto Rican descent, songwriter, record producer and bandleader. Puente is often credited as "The Musical Pope", "El Rey de los Timbales" (The King of the Timbales) and "The King of Latin Music". He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz compositions that endured over a 50-year career. His most famous song is " #OyeComoVa Puente served in the Navy for three years during World War II after being drafted in 1942. He was discharged with a Presidential Unit Citation for serving in nine battles on the escort carrier USS Santee (CVE-29). The GI Bill allowed him to study music at Juilliard School of Music, where he completed a formal education in conducting, orchestration and theory. During the 1950s, Puente was at the height of his popularity, and helped to bring Afro-Cuban and Caribbean sounds like mambo, son, and cha-cha-chá, to mainstream audiences. Puente was so successful playing popular Afro-Cuban rhythms that many people mistakenly identify him as Cuban. Dance Mania, possibly Puente's most well known album, was released in 1958. Among his most famous compositions are mambo "Oye como va" (1963), popularized by Latin rock musician Carlos Santana and later interpreted, among others, by Julio Iglesias, Irakere and Celia Cruz. In 1969, he received the key to the City of New York from former Mayor John Lindsay. In 1992, he was inducted into the National Congressional Record, and in 1993 he received the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal from the Smithsonian. #titopuente #elreydeltimbal #PRME #Music #MusicCulture #CulturaMusical #LatinMusic #LatinCulture #ÍconoMusical #WME