Aurora Flores is a music journalist and friend of Latin percussionist, Tito Puente
Continuing our journey to our next Mystery Artist, we have to make a stop in New York City, where his musical ancestors were blazing a new trail. They were the early Latin music artists, like Tito Puente, who brought national attention to Latin music in America, and Latin Jazz in particular.
This week, host Lisa Robbin Young sits down with Aurora Flores, a music journalist steeped in the history of Latin music in New York City. She's also a friend of Tito Puente who helps us connect the dots to our Mystery Artist.
"I needed to fact-check a piece of research that connected to Tito Puente. I found Aurora on LinkedIn after watching an interview on YouTube." Lisa said. "I sent her an email, and she agreed to meet with me and share what she knew... which was SO much more than I expected. It was truly a gift and an honor to interview her."
Aurora explains how the Spanish American War and two musician strikes in the 40's made it possible for Latin music to take hold in the States. She also shares how Tito Puente became a leading figure in the Latin music scene. She pulls no punches, talking about the problematic nature of the music industry, and how much things have (and haven't) changed since then.
Credits
The Influencers is part of the educational mission of Indiana University and produced by the small but mighty team at WFIU/WTIU Public Media in Bloomington, Indiana. Our producer and host for this episode is Lisa Robbin Young. Executive Producers are Eric Bolstridge and Justin Crossley.
Special Thanks to Aurora Flores for doing some research on Pete Hernandez's connections to Tito Puente's band on my behalf.
Videography: John Timm & Jake Lindsay
Editor: Saddam Al-Zubaidi
Theme Music: "Melting Pot" by 3Monkeys, courtesy of Universal Production Music.
Additional support from Sam Schemenauer.