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Celebrate Tito Puente’s Centennial With These 15 Essential Albums

Listen to the tunes that made America dance to his Latin rhythms

spinner image Tito Puente playing the drums
Photo by: Mike Albans/AP

Latin jazz master Tito Puente, who died at 77 in 2000, would have turned 100 on April 20. The music world is celebrating his centennial, and you can find out why by listening to his 15 best albums. They encompass his influentially wide range of styles, from mambo to classic salsa, jazz, funk and soul. As he put it in his signature 1962 hit, “Oye cómo va”: Listen how it goes!

Puente in Percussion (1956)

spinner image The album cover for Puente In Percussion
Album cover courtesy of Craft Recordings/Concord, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

One of the most important percussion albums in history, this LP was recorded in a studio that was only available to the musicians starting at midnight. Puente was accompanied by a team of percussion virtuosos: Mongo Santamaría, Willie Bobo and “Patato” Valdés. As the story goes, these artists sat and looked at each other without knowing what to do until Puente opened a bottle of rum, toasted his friends and started recording.

Dance Mania (1958)

spinner image The album cover for Dance Mania
Album cover courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

A perfect introduction to the sound universe of Puente, this album ranges from the exotic hum of “Hong Kong Mambo” to the naughtiness of “Saca tu mujer” to the elegant cha-cha-cha of “El cayuco.” With its impeccable arrangements and crystal-clear aesthetic, it still sounds fresh and innovative decades later.

Tambó (1960)

spinner image The album cover for Tambó (1960)
Album cover courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

If Dance Mania was a populist album, Tambó is a delicacy for refined ears, a session as experimental as it is powerful. Just listen to “Call of the Jungle Birds,” with its sinuous melody and sharp percussion. A masterpiece that well deserves to be acclaimed, again.​

Pachanga in New York (1961)

spinner image The album cover for Pachanga in New York
Album cover courtesy of Disco Hit Productions, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

Puente’s recordings are so extensive that, in addition to the many albums with his regular top singers — Celia Cruz, La Lupe, Santitos Colón — he gave us unexpected collaborations with many other of the greatest vocalists of the time. Born in Santa Clara, Cuban sonero Rolando Laserie was well known for his hearty tropical versions of Argentinean tangos. This sizzling session with Puente features a superb take on “El manisero” (“The Peanut Vendor”) and lavish boleros such as “Flores negras.”

El Rey Bravo (1962)

spinner image The album cover for El Rey Bravo
Album cover courtesy of Craft Recordings/Concord, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

In addition to the electrifying jazz of “Tokyo de noche,” this 1962 session with flute solos and a whiff of charanga includes the original “Oye cómo va,” a composition by Puente that would be transformed into a 1970s Chicano rock anthem by guitarist Carlos Santana. With his fine sense of irony, Puente used to say he loved Santana’s version, especially when he got the royalty checks in the mail.

Tito Puente Swings, the Exciting Lupe Sings (1965)

spinner image The album cover for Tito Swings, La Lupe Sings
Album cover courtesy of Craft Recordings/Concord, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

An explosive combination: Puente’s 1960s orchestra with the voice of the indescribable La Lupe, a Cuban diva with a reputation for paroxysms onstage, tearing off her clothes and attacking her own musicians. She behaved with Puente, mixing fire with fire, revolutionizing the bolero with songs of lost love like “Qué te pedí.”

Cuba y Puerto Rico Son ... (1966)

spinner image The album cover for Cuba y Puerto Rico Son...
Album cover courtesy of Craft Recordings/Concord, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

The eight albums that Celia Cruz recorded with Tito Puente’s sumptuous orchestra mark a relatively unknown chapter in Latin music. With the rise of The Beatles and rock, they went almost unnoticed despite their musical excellence. This is Cruz and Puente’s first collaboration, with tender boleros and an opening track, “La guarachera,” that captures the explosiveness of a duo that is hard to match.

Algo Especial Para Recordar (1972)

spinner image The album cover for Algo Especial Para Recordar
Album cover courtesy of Craft Recordings/Concord, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

Somehow, this fiery session of Cuban classics with Celia Cruz at the top of her game went against the flow of the hard salsa genre popularized by young artists such as Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe. A shame, because the versions of “Tatalibabá,” “Cao cao maní picao” and “Dile que por mí no tema” renew the Sonora Matancera songbook with its cosmopolitan orchestrations and authentic Caribbean spirit.

Tito Puente and His Concert Orchestra (1973)

spinner image The album cover for Tito Puente and His Concert Orchestra
Album cover courtesy of Craft Recordings/Concord, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

Tito’s ability to adapt to musical trends was enviable. This ambitious 1973 session finds him incorporating American funk and soul styles, especially in a rousing remake of “Last Tango in Paris,” composed by Argentinean sax player Gato Barbieri, which was all the rage that year. “Black Brothers” is one of Puente’s finest moments of the decade, while the same modernized sound appears in new interpretations of “Mambo Diablo” and “Picadillo.”

Homenaje a Beny (1978)

spinner image The album cover for Homenaje a Beny
Album cover courtesy of Craft Recordings/Concord, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

One of Puente’s most spectacular albums in terms of the caliber of guest singers, this is the first of several tributes that Tito dedicated to Cuban bandleader and composer Beny Moré. It opens with “Qué bueno baila usted” performed at the speed of light by Celia Cruz, Adalberto Santiago, Ismael Quintana, Junior González and Héctor Casanova. The surprises continue: “Encantado de la vida,” a duet between Celia and Cheo Feliciano, and a catchy “Santa Isabel de las Lajas” with Luigi Texidor, lead vocalist of the Sonora Ponceña. As consistent as it is exuberant.

Ce’ Magnifique (1981)

spinner image The album cover for Ce' Magnifique
Album cover courtesy of Craft Recordings/Concord, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

Puente was tireless in his search for inspired singers. His collaboration with Panamanian singer Azuquita resulted in one of his best albums of the 1980s, with the outstanding inclusion of “Guaguancó Arsenio,” a nod to the African roots of Cuban pioneer Arsenio Rodríguez. Azuquita’s compositions add a touch of humor to Puente’s sound in jocular tracks such as “Negrito de sociedad” and “No me touche pas.”

El Rey (1984)

spinner image The album cover for El Rey
Album cover courtesy of Concord Records, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

During the 1980s, when the hard salsa movement began to blend with pop, Puente found refuge in the intimacy of Latin jazz, recording a series of LPs for the Concord label. Recorded live, El rey features conga player Francisco Aguabella and flutist and sax player Mario Rivera. In addition to a new version of “Oye cómo va,” there is an exciting Latinized reading of “Equinox,” a composition by the great John Coltrane.​

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The Mambo King (1991)

spinner image The album cover for The Mambo King - 100th LP
Album cover courtesy of Universal Music, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

Having signed a contract with leading record company RMM, Puente wanted to celebrate his 100th album with a spectacular gathering of old friends and brand-new salsa stars. The relentless swing of Tony Vega’s “Déjame soñar” was the biggest hit of an album that also included tracks by Venezuela’s Oscar D’León (“Hay que trabajar”), a medley of boleros with Santitos Colón and Danny Rivera, and a fresh look at the immortal pairing of “Celia y Tito.” Heartwarming.

Masterpiece — Obra Maestra (2000)

spinner image The album cover for Masterpiece — Obra Maestra
Album cover courtesy of Universal Music, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

For many years, Puente dreamed of recording with the other eccentric genius of his generation: bandleader, arranger, composer and Latin jazz pianist Eddie Palmieri. It would be his last record and a high-level farewell. Palmieri’s presence added adrenaline to the recording. There’s a severity, a sense of musical discipline, that was absent from some previous albums. Singer Hermán Olivera’s rendition of “La última copa” stands out, as does a magical version of “Picadillo Jam” with Palmieri’s dissonant solos a perfect counterpoint to his dear friend’s performance on timbales.

The Complete 78s: Vol. 2 (2008)

spinner image The album cover for The Complete 78s: Vol. 2
Album cover courtesy of Craft Recordings/Concord, part of the Ernesto Lechner Music Collection

Published in remastered sound in 2008, this second of four compilations of the 78s that Puente recorded for the Tico label in the early ’50s gives us a chance to hear the maestro as he started his career with a sweeping energy. In addition to classic themes with singer Vicentico Valdés (the vibraphone-accompanied bolero “Nueva vida” is especially memorable), this volume includes four bubbling themes with the DeCastro Sisters, a group of young Cuban female vocalists.

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