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HISPANIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION AND PLATINUM MUSIC GROUP HONOR TITO PUENTE AT SPECIAL EVENT - Proceeds to fund latino youth programs
NEW YORK, November 25, 2009 - The Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) and Platinum Music Group announced today they are hosting a special event at the Latin Quarter nightclub on December 16, 2009 in New York City in honor of the legendary Tito Puente, who was known as "El Rey de los Timbales" and who was instrumental in promoting Latin Jazz and Caribbean music for more than 50 years. The event will also serve to launch a DVD of Puentes last performance in 2000, the year in which he died. The DVD will be available as of today for sale in stores across North America and Puerto Rico. Proceeds from the DVD sales will benefit HHFs youth programs. The event will feature performances from top Latin stars paying tribute to Tito Puente and raise funds for youth programs, which include educational scholarships. HHF has honored Puente with its prestigious Hispanic Heritage Award for the Performing Arts in 1994.
Performers include: Tito Puente Jr. and Friends, Alex y Fido, Baby Ranks and Grupo Mania. Other celebrities such as Marc Anthony, Luis Enrique, Don Omar, Jose Alberto "El Canario", Soledad OBrien, Judy Reyes, among others, have also been invited to participate.
Im thrilled my fathers fans will be able to watch him perform again on the DVD, said Tito Puente Jr. And Im even more excited younger fans will be able to witness his performances. And it will start where my dad was born, lived and died in New York City. Im grateful to the stars who will be part of the tribute and more importantly, that the evening will benefit the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, which honored my dad with the Hispanic Heritage Awards and works year-round to move Latino youth forward through leadership, community service and education.
The evening will feature a Red Carpet from 7 - 8:30 p.m. and will open to the public at 9 p.m. Entrance fee will be $40.00 of which 100 percent will benefit HHFs mission (visit www.HispanicHeritage.org for more information.)
It has been a privilege to have worked with Tito Puente and to know this great person. His performance in this concert -- and, in fact, in every concert he ever did -- speaks of Tito's character. He always gave it 110 percent. Knowing Tito and the lives he touched, including mine, said Platinum Music Group President, Johnny Falcones. I am sure would have asked me, "Johnny, how can we contribute to the Hispanic Heritage foundation?". The driving force has been the willingness to be there and to keep alive Tito's musical legacy alive. But also, to be sure, to keep alive his big-heartedness and deep desire to make a positive impact on the lives of Latino youth. The great thing is that Tito Puente Jr. is no different from his father and this is why he is also supporting HHF's leadership and educational programs. He will carry on his father's legacy for years to come.
The Hispanic Heritage Foundation identifies, inspires, prepares and positions Latino leaders in the classroom, community and workforce. HHF is a nonprofit organization and all sponsorships facilitate its year-round programs including the Hispanic Heritage Awards, Youth Awards, LOFT (Latinos on Fast Track) Network and Speakers Bureau.
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Bandleader, percussionist, composer, and arranger. Born Ernesto Antonio Puente, Jr., on April 20, 1923, in New York, New York. Puente was a musical pioneer for mixing musical styles with Latin sounds and for his experiments in fusing Latin music with jazz. The son of Puerto Rican immigrants, Puente grew up in New York City's Spanish Harlem and took piano lessons as a child and then studied percussion. He became a professional musician at age 13. and became a professional musician at age 13. Tito Puente later learned to play a number of instruments, including the piano, saxophone, vibraphone, and timbales (paired high-pitched drums). After an apprenticeship in the historic Machito Orchestra, he was drafted and served in the navy during World War II.
Once he returned to New York in 1945, Puente used money from the G.I. Bill to study at the famed Juilliard School of Music. He formed a band that would later be known as the Tito Puente Orchestra in 1948. By the 1950s, crowds came to see his band play and Puente became a Latin music sensation. In 1958, his best-selling album, Dance Mania, was released. More hit records followed as the world enjoyed the way Puente put a big band spin on traditional Latin dances.
He added other Latin and Afro-Cuban rhythms to his repertoire, including cha-cha, merengue, bossa nova, and salsa, and among his notable songs are Babarabatiri, Ran Kan Kan, and Oye Como Va. Puente also performed with leading jazz performers, including George Shearing and Woody Herman, as well as with many stars of Latin music and, in later years, with symphony orchestras.
During a career that spanned more than five decades, Tito Puente became a musical legend in Latin music and jazz circles. He made more than 100 albums and created more than 200 compositions. Puente received numerous awards for his work, including five Grammy Awards. Sometimes called the "King of Latin Jazz" or simply "El Rey"The Kinghe made an indelible mark on the popular culture. The writer Oscar Hijuelos made him a character in his 1989 novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, and Puente appeared as himself in the 1992 film adaptation. He also guest starred on numerous television shows, such as The Simpsons.
Tito Puente died on May 31, 2000, while in the hospital for heart surgery in New York, New York. Adored by his fans, many people waited in line for days to say good-bye to the popular bandleader.
Kortez, a sensational and future Latin music star. He was raised in Manati Puerto Rico where he grew up listening to Latin music stars of the 90's and was influenced by "The King of Pop" Michael Jackson, whom he admire as a child. Kortez musical style began when he was just a child listening to artists such as El General, Vico C, Tupac and Jay-Z which inspired him to write his own rhymes and composing his own songs.
At the age of 18 in search of making his dream a reality, Kortez decides to leave his parents and brothers in Puerto Rico and migrate to the great city of New York where he had the opportunity to participate in many neighborhood festivals.
His love and passion for music will have listeners appreciate his abilities as a vocalist with an urban and youthful style. His songs and music are incorporated with lust and passion for rhythm and lyrics. His technique is injecting new blood, style and vision to the Latin urban genre. Kortez shows great passion and interpretative motivation to take creative risks.
Kortez is ready to debut his album self titled "Kortez" With the anticipation of the upcoming release. Kortez is an artist who is about to give his own unique style to the world. His charisma will take him through a musical path of stardom.
The young Antonio Piter De La Rosa, known artisticaly as Omega, Born January 17, 1979 in Bonao Dominican Republic. Omega decides to form its band in 2003, Omega y Su Mambo Violento, show credentials of a contagious music and lyrics that speak about daily life for those who are raised in porverty.
For Omega the success was immediate, and even without a true Record label on his shoulders until now, the artist wonderfully accumulated hit after hits, with records like "Alante Alante", "Tu No Me Amas" and "Que Tengo Que Hacer" that began to play irresistibly to on cars, discos and radio stations, records that have transformed in success for adults and young in the in the United States.
Omega won a Prize Casandra in Dominican Republic and the Recognition of the Puerto Rican Senate. Omega has also realized succesful tours in the United States, Spain, Italy, Holland, Belgium and realized collaborations with Daddy Yankee, Pitbull, and Toby Love.
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