Keeping Salsa Dance Music Alive!

Interview with Music Legend Royalty, Tito Puente Jr.

Buckle up for a dose of Latin music and family fun! This episode of Your Ageless Musical Brain features Tito Puente Jr., the son of the salsa legend Tito Puente. Tito Jr. spills the tea on what it was like growing up with a famous musician dad, shares how he’s keeping his father’s music alive, and even explains why dancing is basically a workout for your brain. He also chats about using social media to connect with younger folks and keep the salsa party going strong. This episode is jam-packed with fun facts and makes you appreciate the power of music and dance. It’s like a mini-concert for your ears and a history lesson all rolled into one!

Website Links:

https://www.facebook.com/TitoPuenteJr/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tito-puente-jr-66a46620/

https://www.aermanagement.com/artists/tito-puente-jr

Mambo Mondays: Celebrating Tito Puente’s Legacy with Tito Puente Jr.

Welcome to Your Ageless Musical Brain podcast, Season 2. I’m your host Lucy Blanco. On this first episode, I have a very special guest born from music legend royalty. He lives his father’s musical iconic legacy in his euphoric, energetic, and spicy performances. In his performances, he mirrors the passion that he has for keeping his father’s memory and his impact on Latin American music, Latin jazz, and Afro-Cuban beats very much alive. My guest continues to keep fast-paced dance, salsa music, and our Latin culture vibrant and influential just like his father’s legacy. Here to tell us more about the King of Mambo and the King of Latin American music is my very special guest, Tito Puente Jr. Tito, it’s an honor to have you on the show.

Lucy, thank you for having me. I appreciate your time in celebrating the life and legacy of my late father, El Rey Del Timbal, Tito Puente.

I could see that from your T-shirt. You live it. Even from what you wear. That is so beautiful. This past weekend, you celebrated your father’s legacy of 101 years. It’s very symbolic of his birthday. You celebrate and make his spirit live on through the love of his music. That’s a very loyal and unique quality that you have. Tell me what happened. Thank you.

Keeping His Father’s Legacy Alive

I appreciate that. It’s a big shoe to fill. He passed away 24 years ago. We did celebrate his 100 and first birthday, born April 20th, 1923, Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. aka Tito Puente. Those of you who are tuning in might not know that my father’s name was Ernest Puente. Not Tito. His stage name, he’s known as Tito. That comes from my grandmother. It comes from my grandmother, Ercilia Ortiz. In the box, about growing up in New York City and Spanish Harlem, my father was born on 110th Street. He lived on the third floor.

Back then, there was no social media or cell phones or anything like that. Abuela, as we kindly called her. Grandma would yell out the window, “Ernetito.” My dad got the nickname from his friends, Tito, as something derivative and something small in Spanish, Poquito, Chiquito, and Ernetito. That’s where he got his nickname Tito.