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Cha cha cha

Fifty years of Tito Puente on CD

by Norman Weinstein

Had you been in Harlem last February 23, you would have seen a massive outpouring of public affection for Tito Puente, Latin-music pioneer. It was "Tito Puente Day" in Spanish Harlem, and thousands of his fans as well as a small army of New York politicos and music-biz staffers filled the streets to honor the revered Puerto Rican-born bandleader. There was dancing. There were speeches. And there was Tito, rightly referring to himself as "an alumnus of Spanish Harlem" when he addressed the crowd.

Experiencing an event like that is the ultimate way to appreciate Puente's cultural importance. But 50 Years of Swing (RMM), a three-disc box of his Afro-Cuban dance-jazz fusions, offers the next best thing -- a cherrypicked assortment of his major works that adds up to 50 tracks and three hours of brightly energetic music. The dance numbers are smartly mixed so you can jump from mambos to cha-chas to boleros. Puente's feeling for jazz comes through on "Mambo Herd," in which Woody Herman (whose own brassy big bands might well have inspired him) on clarinet adds some frenetic touches to a crazily driven bit of explosive Latin bop. It's three minutes of timbales and horns roaring at full tilt, and a rare example of a Puente number that doesn't immediately invite you to hit the dance floor.

More familiar examples of his sound can be found on his two best-known numbers, both of which were popularized by Latin rocker Carlos Santana. Puente's original recordings of "Para los Rumberos" and "Oye Cómo Va" outdo Santana's, not only because Puente's skill as a percussionist outshines any of Santana's hired guns, but also because Puente is the superior arranger. Listen to how the flute takes the lead on the live take of "Oye Cómo Va," dancing around the melody, evoking a female vocalist improvising, scatting countermelodies while the band and audience members sing the verses. It's enough to make you forget all about Santana's electric-guitar soloing. In Puente's hands the song conveys the rhythm and feel of archetypal Spanish Harlem -- not the Haight-Ashbury of Santana's '60s. Listen to the musical interplay of Puente's band and you'll hear the sounds of cars honking, babies wailing, trashcan drums, and the cacophonies of the Latin street carnivals that make up so much of his heritage.

Puente, who performs on the opening night of this summer's Newport Jazz Festival, started working in the '40s, when Latin dance singles were his forte. His potent mix of finely tuned, precisely arranged percussion and brass really hasn't changed much over the years. Puente himself can always be heard above the polyrhythmic swing, playing his timbales, the most metallic-sounding drum in the realm of Latin percussion. Boisterously erotic female vocals often declaim partying lyrics, but Puente recordings have always been, and continue to be, wailing brass-and-drum workouts, with Latin and jazz rhythms subordinated to the needs of dancers. His main record company during in the late '50s and early '60s -- often regarded as his prime years -- is said to have pressured him into producing dance albums locked into a single style. You can still find those discs packaged as budget-priced CDs, featuring nothing but cha-chas or mambos. But it has always been best to experience him in concert, where his interaction with dancers inspires fiery improvisations and an ever-varied repertoire of dance styles.

I recently saw Puente and his band in the Bay Area and was captivated by his showmanship as well as his musicianship. His band was workmanlike, rehearsed to a steely precision. But Puente? He was full of surprises, generous with his solos (to a degree that even the major recordings here rarely indicate), and pulled no punches: "After 50 years in this business I don't do no encores." Of course he did one anyway: he danced a funny shuffling boogaloo over to his timbales, impishly stuck out his tongue, and began beating his timbales to a Latinized version of "Hava Nagila." "What do you call this mixed-up salsa?" he shouted to his grateful audience. Genius, I thought, plain and simple.

Tito Puente performs at the opening-night party for the JVC Jazz Festival in Newport next Friday, August 15, at 8:30 p.m. at the Newport Casino. Call 931-2000 for tickets and 401-847-3700 for information.