Joe Conzo met Latin percussionist Tito Puente at a performance at New York’s Palladium in 1959. After that, the two kept running into each other and eventually became such good friends that Conzo ended up as his de facto archivist. He’ll soon publish a biography about the music legend.
“I tell everybody it was destiny,” says Conzo, who co-wrote the liner notes to the reissue of Puente’s Dance Mania, due out later this month. “I always archived his music since I was a kid. Everybody grew up with his 78s. The music was always there. The house parties were always playing his music, especially in Spanish Harlem. You can’t do it today, but years ago, the doors were open and everyone would share drink and food with you. Like Tito once said, the Palladium was one of the few places that wasn’t segregated. Everybody and their mother went there.”
Puente’s popularity escalated after he signed a deal with RCA in 1956. Dance Mania, recorded in 1957, was groundbreaking because it incorporated so many instruments (even the cowbell!) and successfully crossed over into jazz circles. The Sony Legacy reissue includes numerous bonus tracks and remastered versions of the original tunes.
The music really swings too, right from the opening notes of the exuberant “El Cayuco.” “Tito’s albums were mindblowers,” says Conzo says. “He always hated the word ‘salsa.’ He always said, ‘That’s tomato sauce.’ If you have a
chance to sit down and listen to all of his music, he grew from a small group to a big band. He incorporated jazz. He had one of the best percussion rhythm sections. When those musicians left, he brought in Mr. Hot Hands himself, Ray Barretto, who plays with Tito on Dance Mania.”
This article appears in May 13-19, 2009.