I wish I was born back in the days when men and women would dress up and dance the night away in big ballrooms with live orchestras. Last Saturday as I listend and danced to the Mambo Legends Orchestra, I was transported back to those days.
In the large, 4000 square-foot ballroom at Artisphere in Arlington, Virginia, I was caught up in a swirl of the soulful Latin sounds of 20-piece band complete sensational singers, swinging horns, congas, timbales and an upright bass.
In a joint effort with the Smithsonian Institution’s Anacostia Community Museum, the arts center celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by hosting a Latin music and dance party featuring the Mambo Legends Orchestra. The event was hold in honor of Latin Jazz King, Tito Puente.
The Legacy Lives
The Mambo Legends Orchestra brings together former musicians who performed with great Latin Jazz percussionist, composer and band leader, Tito Puente. Led by John “Dandy” Rodiguez, Mitch Frohman, musical director José Madera, the orchestra continues the rich Latin sounds that filled New York City’s music and dance hall, the Palladium, in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
After Puente’s death in 2000, the band continued to play for a year. But after Puente’s wife disessembled the band the orchestra performed under a new name, the Latin Giants. With a new name, the band recorded albums under the Gigante record label. But, after splitting with record label, they formed a new band called The Mambo Legends Orchestra. Although the names of band changed, the band’s sound and authenticity remained the same.
We are the only band to have about 90% of the living Tito Puente musicians from the last bands that he had over the last 20-30-40 years,” says Frohman, Puente’s saxophone player and flutist. “[We’re] not people who played with the children of Tito Puente, Tito Rodruigez, and Machito…but actually played with [them]. That’s what the Mambo Legends Orchestra is.”
As the Mambo Legends Orchestra continues the Latin jazz legacy they are also reaching back to younger generations. The Mambo Legends Orchestra will be featured in the upcoming documentary For the Love of the Mambo, scheduled for release this fall.
The documentary chronicles the story of the legendary musicians as they work with student musicians in the Crane School of Music Latin Ensemble (also known as Norte Tropical) of the State University of New York.
At a time when musicians are easily replaced with technology and singers can be manufactured by Autotune, the Mambo Legends Orchestra is a refreshing nod to the days of big bands and soulful singers. It also great to know that younger musicians are embracing the genre and will continue the tradition for future generations.
