Sonny Bravo was one of the mainstays of Tito Puente’s ensembles for nearly twenty years.

This post appeared on the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance blog, in January, 2016.

Puente’s recordings such as Tito’s Idea, The Mambo King: His 100^th Album or Mambo Birdland feature Bravo’s work, at the piano, on paper or both. But he also played, arranged and recorded for a who’s who in Afro-Caribbean music, a list that includes flutist José Fajardo and percussionists Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaría, era-defining singers such as Vicentico Valdés, Miguelito Valdés, Celia Cruz and La Lupe and the great bands of Frank Grillo “Machito,” and Tito Rodríguez.

For the public at large, however, Bravo may well be just one more faceless musician.

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