Tito Puente Jr. has spent a great deal of his career simply uplifting his father, magnifying the cosmic reverberations left by that singularly inventive and beloved force in music (and the world) Tito Puente. And, who could be mad at that?
The New York-born Puerto Rican crafted an unforgettable creole of Latin jazz, mambo, and Afro-Cuban jazz, and he delighted the world with his magnetic personality, wearing his joy impossibly thick on his face like a worldwide ambassador for happiness itself.
If the father brought the passion and drama of Afro-Latin rhythms to the world stage, the son is doing his part to ensure that this style of music, and its biggest star, are not forgotten. Puente Jr. puts on kinetic shows, driven forward by delirious rhythms, playing his father’s music as well as some of his own originals. Thursday, July 13, $26, 8pm, Paper Tiger, papertigersatx.com.
