Styles and Influences Puente had distinct Asian influences in his composition and arranging style, all of which came after his service during World War II. After finishing his time in the Navy, Puente attended the
Juilliard School of Music to study conducting and orchestration. His conducting teacher was Japanese, further influencing the Asian elements in his compositions. Throughout the rest of his career, Puente traveled to Japan many times while on tour. He said that if it was not for war, he would have never been exposed to their music and culture. “Even in war, [the power of] music, art, dancing, food… always eventually wins.”Puente's introduction to music was jazz drumming with an African American show drummer he remembers as Mr. Williams. During this time, he also learned acrobatic tap and ballroom dancing. Puente introduced new techniques to some percussion instruments that would help redefine how they were used in music. For example, while learning vibraphone and marimba, he introduced piano techniques. He also applied his jazz training to timbales, which was unlike anything that had been before. This helped redefine the timbales as a solo instrument. He was discharged with a
Presidential Unit Citation for serving in nine battles on the
escort aircraft carrier USS Santee (CVE-29) where his duties included playing alto saxophone and clarinet in the ship's big band as well as occasionally drum set, piano during mess hall, acting as the ship's bugler, and serving as a machine gunner in the battles of
Leyte and
Midway. The
G.I. Bill allowed him to study music at
Juilliard School of Music, where he completed his formal education in conducting, orchestration, and theory after three years. Puente described his time in the Navy as, “What you normally study in a four-year music conservatory, but in three months… And it was all done with military discipline… it was intense.” popularized by Latin rock musician
Carlos Santana and later interpreted, among others, by
Julio Iglesias,
Irakere and
Celia Cruz. In 1969, he received the key to the
City of New York from former Mayor
John Lindsay. In 1992, he was inducted into the National Congressional Record and in 1993, he received the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal from the
Smithsonian Institution.
The Palladium Era Puente is one of the subjects of
La Época – The Palladium Era, a documentary about
the Palladium era in New York, Cuban music and rhythms, mambo and
salsa as dances and music and much more. The documentary discusses many of Puente's, as well as
Arsenio Rodríguez's, contributions and features interviews with some of the musicians Puente recorded with. Beginning in the 1950s, Americans fell in love with mambo. In New York City, the
Palladium Ballroom was the “Home of the Mambo.” It had been converted from the Alma Dance Studio into a nightclub by
Tommy Morton in 1946.
Machito, who was popular and sold lots of records, was hired along with musicians to play all kinds of music for the dancers. Machito sought to bring in black and Latino consumers from
Harlem that normally frequented the Savoy or Park Place Ballroom. Machito and Morton hired
Federico Pagani, leader of the Happy Boys, to promote Latino dance. Their next step was starting a Sunday promotion called the
Blen Blen Club, and they gave away discount cards at both subway stations and bus stops. By the first Sunday, there was a mob waiting in line at four o’clock in the afternoon. On this night six bands were hired with
Noro Morales and
Jose Curbelo headlining. These bands brought in Latino, Black, and White people. This launched the Palladium era. Afro-Cubans were the first band to go to the Palladium and bring uptown beats and dancing to Broadway. This was the first venue where the children of immigrants came to dance to music that was not what their parents listened to. On Broadway and 7th, 53rd and 54th street had to be closed down because of the long lines around the block. Wednesday's and Friday-Sunday's were dedicated to the mecca of Latin music. Given that this was post-World War II, people were happily spending money given the economic boom and the desire to have a good time. The Palladium needed multiple bands to keep the Blen Blen Club going since Machito was not always available. Pagani knew Puente from the Happy Boys and heard an “arousing” tune Puente was working on that “made [his] blood turn cold.” Machito hired Puente to play on Sundays and had him put together a group called the Picadilly Boys. People also enjoyed seeing the rivalry between Machito, Tito Puente, and
Tito Rodriguez. Puente and Rodriguez constantly wanted to outdo each other and individually improved to increase the competition. The Palladium was the home of the mambo until it closed in 1966. ==Personal life and death==