Tito Puente: When the Drums Are Dreaming

Josephine Powell

aug 2010 · AuthorHouse

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Ernesto "Tito" Puente born in 1923 in Spanish Harlem is a tale about an impoverished Puerto Rican boy who grew up with the advent of radio and American swing bands. At age ten he aspired to be a dancer: another Fred Astaire. An ankle injury gave him the opportunity to explore his talent as a musician. At fourteen he won the coveted Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa drum contest.

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Josephine Powell- was a consultant on the motion pictures Salsa, Havana, and Mambo Kings. She also advised on two Golden Eagle television shows; two television documentaries, one Presidential Inaugural Ball, and two Grammy-winning record albums by her mentor Tito Puente. In 1990, she obtained a Star for him on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. In 1999, she was consultant for Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conductor John Mauceri in a millenium summer series entitled Tropical Nights featuring Puente. She has been a presenter and judge at numerous dance competitions, including the " Feather Awards," the "U.S. Open National Swing Dance Competition," and the national Salsa competitions held at the Hollywood Bowl. Powell was Tito Puente's dance partner, a cast member of the Broadway show "Sketchbook" in Las Vegas, and a featured performer with the Miguelito Valdeacute;s "Mr. Babalu Revue." The majority of the photographs were drawn from her personal file and her memoirs of over a thirty-year friendship with Puente.