: : Great drummers

Puente Ernesto « Tito »

Musicians or bands:

Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby Rodriguez, Celia Cruz, Mongo Santamaria, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Sam Burtis, Piro Rodriguez, Mario Rivera, Hilton Ruiz, Jo y Bravo, Charlie Palmieri, Bernie Glow, Bobby Porcelli, Allen Fields, Marty Holmes, Charlie Sepulveda, Jon Fausty, Vicentico Valdes, Nick Travis, Dave Valentin, Michel Camilo, Jerry Gonzalez, La India, Giovanni Hidalgo, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez

Biography and commentary:

Nicknamed "El Rey del Timbal" and the "Mambo King", Ernesto ("Tito") Puente was a virtuoso of the latin timbales, vibraphonist, composer and arranger, born in New York in 1923 (which makes salsa American and not Cuban, on the contrary to what is commonly believed). Tito asserted himself by the intelligence of his playing (he is probably the inventor of the playing in independence with the clave played with the left foot with a bass drum pedal and a bell) and his compositions (such as the famous "Oye como va" covered by Carlos Santana among others), which standardized the salsa as a genre, distinct from Latin jazz. Which is typical of Tito's arrangements, it is the polyrhythmic quality very African and percussive, applied to all the instruments of the orchestra (a Tito's arrangement often brings together one different voice per instrument, as well harmonically as rhythmically (a musical summit all styles taken together)). He also established a solo style focuses on rhythmic shifts more than rolls (unlike the jazz drummers of the epoch). Tito received a record of six Grammy awards for "Latin" category. A "monument" of modern percussion, recently died (2000), which leaves us an essential educational and historical method ("Tito Puente's Drumming with the Mambo Kings", with Jim Payne, 2000).

Marc De Douvan, publication in French: January 3, 2006 (for the translation in English: July 12, 2015)

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