Tito Puente Museum

[RPR]

TITO PUENTE MUSEUM & TITO PUENTE POST OFFICE DEDICATION IN NY


a dream come true


It began as a dream for Tito Puente.

When Tito was alive, he would talk about using museums or building a cultural institute to let the world know about the rich Hispanic musical culture, especially the music that became known as salsa.

Well, a big part of that dream has come true via the Tito Puente Legacy Project Phase One, which will be showcased in the Hostos Library at Hostos Community College in the Bronx (475 Grand Concourse). Eventually, all of Puente's works will be housed in the building that the college has purchased; part of it will be known as the Tito Puente Museum.

This is the first time a school of higher learning in New York, and possibly in the U.S., will permanently house the complete works of a musician. And Tito is the first Puerto Rican musician in the U.S. to have an exhibit of this type.

Here's another tidbit about Tito: On Sept. 10, he will become the first Puerto Rican musician in the history of the U.S. Postal Service to have a post office named after him. It will be at 124th Street in Spanish Harlem between Lexington and Third avenues.

YOU MIGHT WONDER why the Tito Puente exhibit at the Hostos Library is so important. Today's young people have little sense of history when it comes to music. The radio doesn't play the music of our heroes or the pioneers of the music in general. Little or no history of Latin music or Latin jazz is taught in our schools or colleges.

When it comes to Latin music, you ask young people who were Tito Puente, Machito, Tito Rodriguez, Celia Cruz, La Lupe, etc., and they don't know. They know J.Lo or Marc Anthony — and by the way, Marc is the only Latin artist who gives credit or thanks to his heroes on award shows and he especially thanks Tito Puente, who gave him his start.

FROM THE STREETS OF SPANISH HARLEM to numerous music halls of fame, his career made possible the careers of so many others. His life story of the American dream of success was brought on by hard work and determination. He is a true legend, teacher, genius. We should teach our children to live their lives in honor of his life and the lives of other heroes of the past, because we have few heroes today.

In this exhibit, you will get to see pictures of Tito in the Boy Scouts, never-before-seen pictures in World War II, pictures of him performing at the world-famous Palladium Ballroom, fliers of certain venues that he played at, posters, 78-rpm records, eight-tracks, 10-inch LPs, his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and rare live performances shown on a monitor, plus many other things never before seen in public.

The Tito Puente Legacy exhibit is open to the public, beginning Sept. 14. So visit the Bronx and learn about one of the greatest — if not the greatest — Latin musicians of the 20th century.