One of Tito Puente’s most iconic albums will be widely available for his fans again. On Wednesday (Sept. 27), Craft Latino announced that the late Nuyorican icon’s El Rey Bravo will be reissued on vinyl.
El Rey Bravo was first released in 1962. The LP includes Puente’s classic “Oye Como Va,” which was later reworked into a Latine rock hit by Mexican-American group Santana in 1971. The album was released when Puente’s career was booming. He composed most of the songs on it, uniquely blending Latine and jazz elements. El Rey Bravo also includes his classics like “Malanga con Yuca,” “Batacumba,” and “Tokyo de Noche.”
In recent years, El Rey Bravo went largely out-of-print on vinyl. Fortunately, Craft Latino will re-issue the album on vinyl and in hi-res digital audio. The music for both formats was pulled from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. The packaging for the vinyl record will feature the original cover art and design. Moreover, the songs will be available in 192/24 hi-res audio for the first time.
There will be an exclusive canary yellow version of the vinyl available. Move quickly for that one since only 500 copies will be up for purchase. The reissue of El Rey Bravo will be available on Nov. 10. The vinyl record can be pre-ordered here at Fania, Independent Record Stores, and Vinyl Me Please. Fania will be offering the album in a bundle with a Tito Puente T-shirt. Vinyl Me Please is also selling an orange vinyl variant of the album.
This year marks the centennial anniversary of Tito Puente. The jazz and mambo legend was born 100 years ago on Apr. 20, 1923. His son, Tito Puente Jr., will be paying homage with a special performance at the Hispanic Heritage Awards. The ceremony will air on PBS and PBS.org on Sep. 29.