 
Tito Puente
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He's dazzled audiences around the world with his flamboyant drumming style, composed and arranged many now-classic songs, and recorded 125 albums and counting.
Now Tito Puente is coming to Yale, where he will be honored by the Chubb Fellowship for his groundbreaking contributions to Latin music at a symposium and concert on Thursday, April 6.
Puente's hits include the songs "Oye Como Va" and "Para Los Rumberos," which were recorded by rock musician Carlos Santana, and the albums "Top Percussion," "Dance Mania," "Puente in Percussion," "Cuban Carnival," "El Ray" and "El Número Cien." He has won five Grammy awards, most recently this February for "Mambo Birdland."
Puente was awarded the Medal of the Arts by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1997, and later that same year he was inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame along with Nat King Cole, Miles Davis and Ray Charles. The Smithsonian National Museum presented him with a Medal of Honor and a Lifetime Achievement Award. He has earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and four honorary degrees.
The Chubb Fellowship symposium, "The Life and Art of Tito Puente: 50 Years of Latin Music," will be held 3-4:30 p.m. in the Yale University Art Gallery lecture hall, 1111 Chapel St.
C. Daniel Dawson, curator, art and media consultant and programming specialist of the American Museum of Natural History, will moderate the discussion. Participants will include Robert Farris Thompson, the John Colonel Professor of the History of Art at Yale; Steven Loza, professor of ethnomusicology at the University of California at Los Angeles, and author of "Tito Puente and the Making of Latin Music"; Marta Vega, chair of the board of the Caribbean Cultural Center of New York City; René Lopez, record producer, research associate on Latin music with the Smithsonian Institute and Latin jazz adviser to the Lincoln Center jazz program; and Andy Jerrick, a pioneer of Latin dance, who performed at the Palladium Ballroom in the late 1950s with Tito Puente.
At 8 p.m., Puente and his 12-member orchestra will give a concert, "Honor Al Rey Del Mambo," in Woolsey Hall, corner of College and Grove streets. The program will feature compositions that represent Puente's artistic achievements over the last half-century.
Both events are free and open to the public. Although there is no charge for the concert, admission is by ticket only. Tickets may be obtained by calling (203) 432-8873.
In conjunction with the symposium and concert, there will be an exhibit related to Puente in the Irving S. Gilmore Library, located within the Sterling Memorial Library, 120 High St.
Born in 1923, Ernest (Ernestito) Anthony Puente Jr. grew up in East Harlem's El Barrio neighborhood, a cultural crossroads for Latino youth. His parents were immigrants from Puerto Rico, and Puente was strongly influenced by the culture of that tropical island, with its boleros and rumbas, as well as by the great swing bands and jazz artists of his youth. He studied piano and dancing, and performed as one-half of a song-and-dance team with his sister Anna.
He learned the basics of percussion from the Afro-Cuban drummer of a band called "Los Happy Boys." He later joined the noted Afro-Cuban big band led by Machito. Unlike most drummers of the time, Puente played standing up, rather than seated, and the timbales were brought to the front of the bandstand -- a change that has now become the norm in Latin music.
The Chubb Fellowship is devoted to encouraging and aiding Yale students interested in the operations of government and in public service. Established in 1936 through the generosity of Hendon Chubb (Yale 1895), the program is based in Timothy Dwight College. Each year, distinguished men and women are appointed as Visiting Chubb Fellows. Former Chubb Fellows include Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and author Toni Morrison.
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