{"id":21519,"date":"2023-03-13T14:09:05","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T18:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinomusiccafe.com\/?p=21519"},"modified":"2023-03-14T09:52:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T13:52:32","slug":"giovanni-hidalgo-tribute-to-the-king-album-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinomusiccafe.com\/2023\/03\/13\/giovanni-hidalgo-tribute-to-the-king-album-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Giovanni Hidalgo: “Tribute to the King” Album Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Giovanni Hidalgo<\/a> released a classy and selectively different homage album to Tito Puente in “Tribute to the King<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Fulfilled Promise to Puente<\/h3>\n

Four years before Tito Puente’s death, Giovanni asked and got permission from the timbales King to record a homage album for him. Giovanni told me this story in an exclusive interview, which I captured in my previous blog<\/a><\/em> and in this video<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

It took fifteen years for the master Puerto Rican conguero to finally get the right people and backing to make the recording.<\/p>\n

Musicians in “Tribute to the King<\/em>“<\/h3>\n
\"Musicians
Musicians that participated in the “Tribute to the King” recording.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Around 2009, some of Tito Puente’s band members got together to record an album to honor the King. They called themselves the Mambo Legends Orchestra (MLO)<\/a>, led by percussionists John “Dandy” Rodriguez and Jos\u00e9 Madera.<\/p>\n

Their album was intended to preserve the Puente signature sound, with a mix of Tito’s songs along with new ones.<\/p>\n

When Giovanni finally got the proper backing to record the album he had promised the King, he went to Johnny and Madera to recruit those Puente band members. However, as Giovanni had promised Puente, he would record exclusively Tito’s songs of his choosing.<\/p>\n

Along with most MLO musicians, Hidalgo also invited childhood friends and master musicians David Rosado “Cuba”, and Anthony Carrillo.<\/p>\n

“El Viejo Est\u00e1 Aqu\u00ed<\/em>“<\/h3>\n

Giovanni stated in the video mentioned above regarding the origins of this project, that Tito Puente not only gave his blessing for the project but also offered to be there to help with it. “Yo te voy a ayudar; yo voy a estar ah\u00ed (I’m going to help you; I’ll be there)<\/em>” Puente told Giovanni.<\/p>\n

Well, during one of the recording sessions, Giovanni and others actually felt the presence of Puente in the studio. Here is Giovanni’s tale of that very spiritual moment (in Spanish).<\/p>\n