The Latin Jazz community should count their blessings that Tito Puente was recorded extensively through both audio and video. We have many ways to look back on his massive musical talents and learn. I thought I’d put together some video so we can all look back at the many sides of the King, enjoy!

Puente takes the classic “Pare Cochero” and tears it apart on this one; there are lots of solos, but the band plays this one like a straight-ahead dance number. Puente gives lots of improvisatory space to Mario Rivera, who plays his flute somewhere between tipico and jazz. Once the timbale solo arrives, you can really see Puente explode - his technical ability was astounding, his musicianship allowed his to build a solo compositionally, and his total command over the rhythmic structures helped him approach the music completely originally. No matter how many times I’ve heard him, seeing Puente soloing on timbales always astounds me. This one grooves extra hard - there’s a young Jerry Gonzalez sitting behind the congas!

This live video captures Puente and his band live at New York nightclub S.O.B.’s. The clip catches the band between two songs - we hear the last half of Puente’s classic Cha Cha Cha “El Cayuco” and the first half of the Latin Jazz standard Mambo Inn. “El Cayuco” includes a pretty incredible extended flute solo from the late Mario Rivera. Puente swings throughout both songs; no solos here, but he doesn’t really need one. His playing is like a constant conversation, a fluid story from beginning to end. Puente says more in a fill than most drummers say in a featured solo!

Puente’s abilities as a timbalero often distract from the fact that he played the vibraphone at an equally high level of musicality. He opens up here on the old Latin standard “Maria Cervantes,” playing the melody and montuno with style and ease. Puente’s talent was truly immense - in addition to these performance skills, he wrote hundreds of songs over the course of his life. He arranged a comparable amount of jazz standards into Latin rhythms as well. Puente lived a full musical life, and thankfully for us, he left a huge musical legacy.

Martin Cohen, head of LP music, has captured a variety of the LP greats on video in a series of clips he calls “Profiles In Greatness.” This short clip shows El Rey at the LP Studios, talking for a bit and then playing solo. The performance clip is short, but it features a good clean look at some classic Puente licks. It also allows you to get a good look at his timbale set-up; it’s pretty incredible!

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