THE KING AND I : A previously unpublished interview with Tito Puente.
(Talking about Salsa, the Fania All Stars, songo, timba, latin jazz, the old times and the future of latin music).
The late great Tito Puente, unanimously declared “The King Of Latin Music”, was a frequent visitor in Greece from the late 80s till his death, in 2000. All in all, he must have played around ten times in big theatres and prestigious establishments of Athens and the country’s major cities, always being a favourite of the greek audience and invariably capable of attracting big crowds to his concerts. I was lucky enough to witness almost all of his live appearences in Greece, and since I knew the promoter of his concerts, mr. Christos Tsiligiannis, quite well, I met Tito Puente in person on several occasions. In fact, I even went on the road with him and the fabulous Golden Latin Jazz All Stars back in 1994, for the whole 24 hours that this supergroup’s visit to the city of Patras, for an excellent concert, lasted (well, not much of a trip but to be sure, more than enough for me).
