Do you know Tito Puente?

Do you know Tito Puente? Who was the Latin music legend and "drum king" of New York City honored by Google Doodle?

With a fantastic doodle, Google honors the "Nuyorican" Tito Puente. Google honors American "Nuyorican" musician and well-known performer Tito Puente this Tuesday.

Google honors the life and legacy of "Nuyorican" American musician and well-known performer Tito Puente in observance of US Hispanic Heritage Month. Carlos Aponte, a Puerto Rican living in New York, created the animated Doodle for today.

Tito Puente was a multi-talented musician of Puerto Rican descent. In addition to playing the drums, he also wrote songs, composed music, made records, and led a band. He has been known as "The King of Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music" throughout the duration of his five-decade career. In East Harlem, New York, on this day in 2021, the Tito Puente Monument was unveiled.

At the Spanish Harlem Hospital Center in New York City, Puente was born on April 20, 1923. Growing up, he was exposed to big band, Cuban, and Puerto Rican music, and he showed early signs of being a gifted musician. He got his big break playing for Machito's Orchestra and Federico Pagani's Happy Boys when he was just a teenager. He started out in the music industry as a drummer. In addition to playing ten other instruments, he led the ship's band while serving in the Navy during World War II and playing the alto saxophone. The Juilliard School of Music was where he continued his education after the war.

In 1948, he started his own band, the Orquesta Tito Puente, and soon became well-known for his energetic performances that got the crowd moving. Puente was renowned for his incredible timbale (or timbaleros) playing prowess as well as for the way he incorporated big band instruments and jazz harmonies into Afro-Cuban music.More than any other timpani bandleader to date, he recorded an astounding 118+ albums and is credited on dozens more. Ran Kan Kan, his debut studio effort and the inspiration for today's Doodle, marked the beginning of this journey.

Puente explored with different Latin music styles after the mambo revolution, including boogaloo, pachanga, and ultimately salsa. Because of his originality and experimentation, he was regarded as a musical pioneer. He is also widely credited with making Latin music popular in the United States. He received the key to New York City in 1969.

Throughout his career, Puente won numerous musical awards, but he was also strongly committed to giving the Latino community chances. He established a scholarship program in 1979, which has given young Latin percussionists financial support for more than 20 years.

Puente's success, charisma, and musical ability are widely known and respected to this day. Many stood in line to say farewell for days after his death. The Harlem street where he was raised, E. 110th Street, was renamed Tito Puente Way in memory of his life and contributions to music after he was posthumously honored at the first Latin Grammy Awards.