Tito Puente
By virtue of his warm, flamboyant stage manner, longevity, constant touring, and appearances in the mass media, Tito Puente is probably the most beloved symbol of Latin jazz. But more than that, Puente managed to keep his music remarkably fresh over the decades; as a timbales virtuoso, he combined mastery over every rhythmic nuance with old-fashioned showmanship — watching his eyes bug out when taking a dynamic solo was one of the great treats for Latin jazz fans. A trained musician, he was also a fine, lyrical vibraphonist, a gifted arranger, and played piano, congas, bongos and saxophone. His appeal continues to cut across all ages and ethnic groups, helped no doubt by Santana's best-selling cover versions of "Oye Como Va" and "Para Los Rumberos" in 1970-71, and cameo appearances on "The Cosby Show" in the 1980s and the film The Mambo Kings in 1992. His brand of classic salsa is generally free of dark undercurrents, radiating a joyous, compulsively danceable party atmosphere. Rooted in Spanish Harlem, of Puerto Rican descent, Puente originally intended to become a dancer but a torn ankle tendon suffered in an accident scotched those ambitions. At age 13, he began working in Ramon Olivero's big band as a drummer, and later he studied composing, orchestration and piano at Juilliard and the New York School Of Music. More importantly, he played with and absorbed the influence of Machito, who was successfully fusing Latin rhythms with progressive jazz. Forming the nine-piece Piccadilly Boys in 1947 and then expanding it to a full orchestra two years later, Puente recorded for Secco, Tico and eventually RCA Victor, helping to fuel the mambo craze that gave him the unofficial — and ultimately lifelong - title "King Of the Mambo," or just "El Rey." Puente also helped popularize the cha-cha-cha during the 1950s, and he was the only non-Cuban who was invited to a government-sponsored "50 Years Of Cuban Music" celebration in Cuba in 1952. Among the major-league congueros who played with the Puente band in the `50s were Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, Johnny Pacheco and Ray Barretto, which resulted in some explosive percussion shootouts. Not one to paint himself into a tight Latin music corner, Puente's range extended to big band jazz (Puente Goes Jazz), and in the `60s, bossa nova tunes, Broadway hits, boogaloos, and pop music, although in later years he tended to stick with older Latin jazz styles that became popularly known as salsa.
Louie Zamperini was a crewman of a B-24 Liberator, he was a bombardier until his bomber went down into the ocean. As a bombardier on a B-24, his mission was to drop bombs onto enemy positions to destroy important caches, such as Fuel, Ammunition etc. After the B-24 went down into the ocean, Louie, Phil and Mac were stranded in the ocean, with no food or water, determined to live they held on. When Phil and Louie were captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy, they were taken to Kwajalein. Louie and Phil was then transferred to Ofuna, and lastly, Omori, where he was beaten by the Bird. In the book Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand uses the life experiences of Louie Zamperini to show the traits of Determined and Courageous.
The nineteenth century introduced several great leaders into this world, many recognized by historians today. These men, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and others, have all been honored and commemorated for their contributions. One such leader, José Martí, continues to remain anonymous outside the Hispanic community, and hidden in the shadows cast by these men. His name does not appear in the history books or on the tongues of many proud Americans, for he was neither a citizen of America nor an American hero.
Latin Jazz is a style of music that blends rhythms and percussion instruments of Cuba and the Caribbean with jazz and its fusion of European and African music. Latin jazz, also called Afro-Cuban jazz, was the culmination of the long interaction between American and Cuban musical styles. A distinctive syncopated rhythm and the Cuban habanera rhythm were endowed to American jazz music in the early 20th century. In the following decades, Latin American melodies and dance rhythms permeated the United States, while American jazz made its way into the Caribbean and Central and South America. In the 1940's the swing era expanded their repertory to include rumbas and congas. The d...
In Jim Naughton’s book Taking To The Air, the main character is Michael Jordan. The book is Jordan’s life and talents. Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York. He was the fourth child and the youngest of three boys. Michael Jordan is by any measure, the most popular athlete in America and perhaps the best-known figure in the world. I have chosen to use Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of Need to analysis Jordan’s personality. I will do my analysis by focusing on Jordan’s healthy personality, which is marked by his continued personal growth.
Through the years, individuals have shown that a single man can make a difference. Men who, when committed to a cause, will rise up with honor, integrity, and courage. Cesar Chavez was such a man. He represented the people and rose above his self concerns to meet the needs of the people. Cesar Chavez showed us that, “The highest form of freedom carries with it the greatest measure of discipline.” He lived by this standard and fought freedom with the highest form of dignity and character.
Pete Rose Bart Giamatti’s decision to ban Pete Rose from the Baseball Hall of Fame was not a fair decision at all. Pete Rose was placed on Baseball’s ineligible list in 1989 when commissioner of baseball, Bart Giamatti, concluded that Rose had bet on baseball games, including games involving his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. In an agreement made with Baseball, Rose accepted his banishment from the sport. Although he never admitted to having gambled at baseball games (Maury). Pete Rose was a phenomenal baseball player and manager.
In 1939, when Cesar Chavez was 12 years old, he and his family moved to a well known barrio (neighborhood) of East San Jose, CA known as “Sal Si Puede” (“Get Out If You Can”). Chavez described it as “dirtier and uglier than the rest.” The barrio consisted of Mexican and Mexican-American migrant field workers who had very limited education and money but a strong sense of pride and family.
Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on March 31, 1927 on a farm near Yuma, Arizona. His family was originally from Northern Mexico (Chihuahua). His parents Librado and Juana Chavez raised their kids in Arizona's Gila valley. Cesar's father worked in his ranch and also owned his own store and pool hall. His father wasn't around a lot because of work so his mother Juana had a lot of influence on him. His mother taught him to be a non-violent person. She told him to turn the other cheek. Also she was a really religious person, a good Christian that also taught him to always help out poor people. In 1929 while the Great Depression Cesar's family lost the ranch. The family traveled to Oxnard, California wear they struggled to put a roof over their head and food on the table. So they moved from town to town in search for work. In 1944 Cesar joined the U.S Navy as a deckhand on a troop transport for 2 years. He joined so he would avoid getting drafted and being forced to fight in real gun fire. After he finished he moved to Delano, California. Their, one day in a theater he sat in an only white section. He didn't move so the police to him to jail and then later they released him because he didn't brake any laws. While he worked in a malt shop called "La Baratita" he entered a grocery wear he met his future wife Helen Fabela.
Released in 1997, Buena Vista Social Club immediately became an international success and won a Grammy Award in 1998. Around the world, especially in U.S. where the album was welcomed most heartily, Ry Cooder was considered the hero of Cuban music (Hernandez 65). Being the producer of the album, Cooder was assumed to discover a “lost treasure” in Cuban culture. However, Tanya Kateri Hernandez, in an article about Buena Vista Social Club, revealed that Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, not Cooder, was the person “who masterminded and facilitated the collaboration.” (Hernandez 62). Also in this article, it is noted that Juan de Marcos Gonzalez “implicitly acquiesced to Cooder’s propagation of the colonial myth for the purpose of ensuring the commercial success of the collaboration.” (Hernandez 64). Other musicians in the Buena Vista Social Club ensemble followed Gonzalez’s step, as there was hardly another choice for them.
Back Back Back Back Back and GONE. This is what people heard many times when Jackie Robinson was up to bat whether they liked it or not. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the MLB in 1947 which changed the game of baseball forever (America’s). Jackie Robinson faced many hardships such as fans treating him harshly saying folderol while playing on the field, players treating him bad, and not having anywhere to sleep even though he was very athletic even at a very young age.
"The guitar is shaped like a woman, with a neck you hold and a body you hug against yourself."(Santana 114). Carlos Santana, a very accomplished fourth generation Latino musician, is a very romantic man with his music. He was born on July 20, 1947 in Autlan Mexico, the middle of seven children (biography.com). His parents are Josefina Barragan and Jose Santana. His father was an accomplished professional violinist and as a child Carlos learned to play the instrument from his father, though he did not enjoy the tones it created. Eventually he picked up the electric guitar, for which he developed an ardent passion. How has Carlos Santana's music been a positive impact in Latino culture? Although Carlos Santana's music was heavily influenced by drugs and alcohol, he has been a positive influence on Latino culture because of his musical innovation, resilience in adversity, and world-wide philanthropy.
In Cuba itself, music and dance are so essential to national character that you can not disentangle them from the country’s history. “The story of Latin jazz music is thus one of religions and revolutions, power and liberation, the collision of civilization”. In the United States we can never completely understand our own music, without referencing it to Cuban music. There are various characteristics that can define Latin jazz, ranging from the savant grade to more popular forms. Some forms of popular music that most people are familiar with would have to be the mambo, salsa, cha-cha, and afro-Cuban jazz.
One of the greatest civil rights activists of our time; one who believed the ways of Gandhi and Martin Luther King that “violence can only hurt us and our cause” (Cesar Chavez); a quiet, devoted, small catholic man who had nothing just like those he help fight for; “one of America's most influential labor leaders of the late twentieth century” (Griswold del Castillo); and one “who became the most important Mexican-American leader in the history of the United States” (Ender). Cesar Chavez; an American farm worker, who would soon become the labor leader that led to numerous improvements for union workers; it is recorded that Chavez was born near Yuma, Arizona on March 31, 1927 and died on April 23, 1993 in San Luis, Arizona. (Wikipedia) His life affected many others as his unselfish deeds changed the labor union force forever. This essay will discuss the reasons Cesar Chavez became involved in Union rights, the immediate impact he had, and also the legacy he left behind with his actions that influenced American society.
Growing up, there was never a day that I did not wake up to the sound of loud salsa music blaring. Or to the loud voices of my mother or grandmother talking. To anyone else this “talking” would surely be mistaken for an argument or fight. Cuba is where salsa music and the conga drum originated, so we tend to be very proud of this. One of the greatest salsa singer/writers was the late Celia Cruz.
Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia. His parents were Jerry and Mallie Robinson. They lived on a small farm and worked as sharecroppers. Sharecroppers are people who rent land and pay the owner of the land some of their crops. After about a year of his life his father left his family of five children.