Spanish Artist

Tito Puente (1923-2000)
Tito Puente was one of the most prolific musicians in the world. When he died at the age of 77, he had recorded over 100 albums. Most of the rock generation is familiar with Tito Puente through Santana’s cover of Oye Como Va. This Juilliard-trained musician is credited with fusing Cuban rhythms with big-band swing and bop. The son of Puerto Rican immigrants, Puente grew up in the Spanish Harlem section of Manhattan. By age 13, his family, friends, and band mates regarded him as a musical prodigy. With his innovative and highly danceable blend of Latin rhythms and big band jazz, Puente found success quickly. Puente also benefited from much collaboration with other musicians, including jazz greats like Buddy Morrow and Woody Herman and vocalists such as Celia Cruz. In 1963, he recorded the hit song Oye Como Va, which became a modern classic and a huge crossover hit for Santana. He won five Grammy Awards over the course of his career.




Carlos Gardel (1890-1935)
Gardel’s skyrocketing career was cut short in 1935, when he lost his life in a plane crash while on tour. A wave of grief and mourning spread through the Spanish-speaking world: a woman in Havana committed suicide, thousands of people made a pilgrimage to see his body in Buenos Aires, some of them traveling from Columbia, New York, and Rio de Janeiro. Known as el zorzal criollo, the song bird of Buenos Aires, Carlos Gardel is a legendary figure in Argentina. His career coincided with the development of that intrinsically Argentine cultural icon, the tango. Gardel made the music his own by inventing the tango-song. Radio performances and a film career extended this appeal. Instantly immortal and preserved forever young, his enduring fame is measured by the popular expression, “Gardel sings better every day.”