Atlanta Jazz Fest 2012 Preview – Tito Puente, Jr.
“He was just too vibrant, too exciting. There was magic in the music my father made. It made people happy all over the world.” – Tito Puente, Jr.
Tito Puente, Jr. is one of three cats in the world of music that I wouldn’t trade places with for anything.
The other two are Frank Sinatra, Jr. and Ravi Coltrane
By now, you get my point. These guys have chosen to make a living in a musical world where their fathers were not just legends, but transcendent figures. Not only that, they also all bear striking physical resemblances to their dads and they are practicing their art on the same instruments that made their fathers famous. The younger Sinatra, with all due respect has wilted under the pressure. Whereas the other two are more than holding their own.
Puente, Jr., who turns 41 in early June, has fully embraced his legacy, as he now leads a band that joyously celebrates his dad by playing many of the songs that made Tito Puente a household name, in addition to some newer tunes that were composed for or by Tito, Jr.
The younger Puente is touchingly reverent about his father’s memory “People who don’t know anything about Latin music know my father and people always, always smile when they say my father’s name. That is a very special gift I have been given.”
Tito Puente, Jr. will share that gift with us on Sunday night May 27, as he closes the second night of the 2012 Atlanta Jazz Festival with a show that starts at 9 pm. I don’t know if there will be a dance floor, but what the hell, we’ll just make our own!
Tito Puente, Jr.’s latest album is Got Mambo? on Salsalsa Records. You can find more information about him on his new official website http://gotmambo.com/
For further information about this year’s Atlanta Jazz Festival visit http://atlantafestivals.com
Curt's Jazz Cafe 
June 5, 2012 at 12:14 pm
[…] evening closed with a set from Tito Puente, Jr., who has now decidedly stepped into his late father’s shoes as “The Mambo King”. […]