- Born
- Died
- Birth nameErnest Anthony Puente Jr.
- Nicknames
- The King of the Mambo
- The King of Latin Jazz
- El Rey de los Timbales
- Ernest "Tito" Anthony Puente was the eldest son of Puerto Rican parents. His mother called him "Ernestito" which means "Little Ernest", which was later shortened to "Tito". His mother saw his musical potential and enrolled him in piano classes. Eventually he attended the Juilliard School of Music from 1945-47 on the GI bill. He would write a piece that would start off as jazz and then add a Latin beat to it. He recorded over 100 albums during his 60 years in the business and won 10 Grammy awards. He often joked that he was profiting off of Santana's hit recording of "Oye Como Va", which he had written. He said, "I get a nice royalty check." He appeared in several films, usually as himself.- IMDb mini biography by: Lydia Marie
- SpouseMargaret Asencio(1963 - June 1, 2000) (his death, 3 children)
- ParentsErnest PuenteErcilia Puente
- He was a Latin percussionist and musician
- His facial expressions while he played his timbales
- Latin Percussion (LP) timbales
- His cheerful and contagious personality.
- His flamboyant virtuosity timbales playing.
- He was the timbalero (timbales player) who began playing the instrument while standing in front of an orchestra. Before Puente, timbales had always been played from a seated postion in the rear of the orchestra.
- Father of television news anchor Audrey Puente (works for local NBC station in New York City). She has also worked as a meteorologist for WCBS-TV in New York City.
- Father of singer Tito Puente Jr..
- Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 2001.
- By the year 2000, I want to be the first Latin musician to play on the moon.
- If there is no dance, there is not music.
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