n 1952. Among the major-league congueros who played with the Puente band in the `50s were Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, Johnny Pacheco and Ray Barretto, which resulted in some explosive percussion shootouts. Not one to paint himself into a tight Latin music corner, Puente's range extended to big band jazz (Puente Goes Jazz), and in the `60s, bossa nova tunes, Broadway hits, boogaloos, and pop music, although in later years he tended to stick with older Latin jazz styles that became popularly known as salsa. In 1982, he started reeling off a string of several Latin jazz albums with octets or big bands for Concord Picante that gave him greater exposure and respect in the jazz world than he ever had. An indefatigable visitor to the recording studios, Puente recorded his 100th album The Mambo King in 1991 amidst much ceremony and affection (an all-star Latin music concert at Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheater in March 1992 commemorated the milestone), and he kept adding more titles to the tally throughout the `90s. He also appeared as a guest on innumerable albums over the years, and such jazz stars as Phil Woods, George Shearing, James Moody, Dave Valentin and Terry Gibbs played on Puente's own later albums. Just months after accepting his fifth Grammy award, he died on June 1, 2000. Several months later, Puente was recognized at the first annual Latin Grammy Awards, winning for Best Traditional Tropical Performance for Mambo Birdland...
