Composer: Tito Puente

Publisher: Planetary Music Pub. Corp

CD: Salsa Meets Jazz

Label: Concord Picante

 1988 Conceord Picante

Recording Date: January 1988

Personnel: Tito Puente, vibes and timbales; Sonny Bravo, piano; Joe De Jesus, trombone; Jose Madera, congas; Mario Rivera, tenor saxophone, flutes & melodica; Johnny Rodriguez, bongos; Bobby Rodriguez, bass; Piro Rodriguez, trumpet & flugelhorn; Bill Ortiz, trumpet and flugelhorn; Rebeca Mauleon, synthesizer

  

  

  

Title: Salsa Meets Jazz
Artist: Tito Puente and his Latin Ensemble with Phil Woods
Type of Tune: salsa/Latin jazz
Tempo: 151 BPM
Key: C Major
Form: AB -- 8 measure vamp that alternates between vocals(A) and horn lines (B)
Devices: vocal/chant, heavy percussion, and use of polyrhythms
Scale(s): major, blues, pentatonic
Recurring Patterns: repeated vocal and horn parts
Developmental Techniques: the tune has only two chords; singers alternate with horn players stating a melody;  towards the end of the tune, all harmonic and melodic instruments drop out, leaving space for a percussion feature

General Comments:

"Salsa Caliente" is a classic recording representative of the merging of jazz with Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Latin rhythmic traditions. There are many variations and approaches to this fusion and many names are used but today, "salsa" is the umbrella term under which music of this style is usually labeled.  Tito Puente was a legendary New York-born Puerto Rican percussionist who was a leading proponent of this style for at least five decades. Many of the non-jazz elements in this music can be traced to African and Caribbean religious ceremonies which involved chanting and the use of certain rhythms to invoke spirits.  These practices were distilled over time as their function shifted from religion to entertainment.  They can be heard on this recording in the patterns played by the percussionists and in the vocal parts performed by band members who are not trained vocalists.