LINCOLN CENTER

Rose Hall
Jazz at Lincoln Center

The Music of Puente, Machete & Henriquez

"Carlos Henriquez, the bassist in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, doubles as musical director of this program, featuring the band in new arrangements of works associated with Machito and Tito Puente. Joining as featured guests are some surviving members of Puente’s orchestra: the trumpeter Pete Nater and the percussionists George Delgado, José Madera and Johnny Rodriquez Jr."

Elements of Latin music can be heard in some of the earliest jazz, a tendency Jelly Roll Morton referred to as the “Spanish Tinge.” Music Director and bassist Carlos Henriquez and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra explore the phenomenon of Latin jazz, through the paradigm of Afro-Cuban forefather Machito and "Mambo King" Tito Puente along with special guests vocalists Cita Rodriguez and Marco Bermudez, trumpeter Pete Nater, and percussionists George Delgado, Jose Madera, and Johnny Rodriguez Jr., many of whom performed with Machito and Puente. Machito was one of the first to introduce Afro-Cuban jazz as one of the earliest hybridizations of the two genres and, in doing so, created a lane for a plethora of Latin styles like mambo, son, guaracha, and guajira to further diversify the music. Hailing from the Bronx, New York, Henriquez’ home borough is a historical haven for Latin culture and creativity. A longtime member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the versatile Henriquez has shared stages with Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, Ruben Blades, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, Bobby Cruz, and a host of greats from various genres. One of the most gifted inheritors of the breadth of what has become Latin jazz, Henriquez will also debut his own compositions, rightly affirming, “[The] melting pot is still brewing for more innovation."