Latin Giants of Jazz: a conversation with Johnny Rodriguez, Mario Rivera and Jose Madera

Latin Beat Magazine, Sept, 2004 by Luis Tamargo, Silvio Alava, Rudy Mangual

RM: After the Puente's passing, what happened to the orchestra?

JM: We kept the band working for a while, taking care of some pending gigs and special performances with Eddie Palmieri, but after the gigs slowed down the Puente family decided it was time to disband the orchestra.

RM: How did you feel about this decision?

JM: Well, after devoting my career and life to this orchestra, that's 30 plus years, I felt I was left high and dry, and the same was the case for many of the other members of the band. But what's done is done and life goes on. We all continue working on and off with different people. Johnny Rodríguez Jr. started touring with the Eddie Palmieri Band; I was called to be the musical director of the Big Three Orchestra featuring the sons of Machito, Tito Puente and Tito Rodríguez, and Mario Rivera, who was associated with Puente for over 40 years, remained active in both the jazz and Latin circuits in New York City.

RM: How did the Latin Giants of Jazz come about?

JM: We all sort of stayed in touch with each other while doing our own thing. After several months passed, Johnny Rodríguez came up with the idea of assembling a big band comprised of the former members of the Tito Puente Orchestra, which would feature the music of Tito Puente, Machito and Tito Rodríguez, the true music of the Palladium era. With the help of saxophonist/entrepreneur Stew Jackson, the Latin Giants of Jazz were formed. In the summer of 2003 the band gained international recognition and praise while performing at the prestigious San Sebastian Jazz Festival in Spain. Currently we are enjoying the release of our debut CD, The Latin Giants Play the Music of The Palladium: Tito Lives ...

Mario Rivera

LUIS TAMARGO: Back in the early 1960s, you played with Tito Rodríguez's band, with whom you traveled to Argentina.

MARIO RIVERA: That's right. Tito Rodríguez's cover of Inolvidable sold over a million units in Argentina, where the country's vice president gave the keys of Buenos Aires to the late bandleader, whose orchestra was very disciplined and featured the likes of Cachao and Víctor Paz.

LT: On your recording debut as a leader (El Comandante, Groovin' High/RTE, 1993), you employed the Dominican merengue in a Latin jazz experiment. Why hasn't the merengue been applied more often to said hybrid form?

MR: Perhaps it has something to do with the lack of pertinent tambora players. Hardly anyone else has ventured into such territory, although there is a young musician in Santo Domingo named Crispín Fernández, who conducted another merengue-jazz experiment in the 1990s.

LT: Which is your favorite sax?

MR: I like all of them, but the baritone was the one that made me known.

LT: Tito Puente's former band, known currently as The Latin Giants of Jazz released the CD El Primo, which includes a track titled Bobby and Mario. What is this about?

MR: This tune previously had a different title, but it includes sax solos provided by Bobby Porcelli and me.

Testimony From Paquito D'Rivera

(Extracted From His Autobiography, as translated by Luis Tamargo)