WENATCHEE — Charismatic and talented percussionist and Latin jazz musician Tito Puente Jr. comes to the Numerica Performing Arts Center Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The Billboard Music award-winner nurtures the legacy of Latin jazz music left by his legendary father, Tito Puente (Earnest Anthony Puente Jr.), during a 50-year career. The two might look alike, but the similarities go beyond that — to the passion, joy and rhythm both bring to the stage.
“He was just so vibrant, too exciting,” Puente, Jr. is quoted as saying about his father on the AER Management website. “There was magic in the music my father made. It made people happy all over the world.”
Puente Jr.’s 2004 album “In My Father’s Shoes” features classic Puente songs and was developed into a BET Jazz television special of the same name.
In the album “Got Mambo?” he takes a departure into new music of his own, which has received praise from tropical and Latin jazz critics from the Evening Standard, Kreol Magazine and other newspapers.
Mambo is a rhythmic dance born in Cuba and America in the late 1940s. Instruments in these arrangements might include piano, flute, violin, double bass, maracas and conga drum.
This style of Afro-Cuban music might also be called salsa, and sometimes sounds like big band and swing music. It is upbeat and danceable.
Puente, Jr. is a regular performer at casinos, performing arts centers, amphitheaters and outdoor concert events for captivated audiences.
Discuss the news on NABUR, a place to have local conversations The Neighborhood Alliance for Better Understanding and Respect ✔ A site just for our local community ✔ Focused on facts, not misinformation ✔ Free for everyone
