Arts

Tito Puente Latin Music Series Returns to O'Day

by Michele D.  Maniscalco
Thursday Jul 13, 2017

Salsa and merengue filled O'Day Playground, 85 West Newton Street, with music and dancing on Thursday, July 6 when the Tito Puente Latin Music Series opened its 2017 season with timbalero (timbales player) Eric Germán y su Orquesta. Germán's infectious music quickly filled the plaza with dancers from kids to seniors, including a surprisingly nimble man with a cane.

Ryan Woods, director of external affairs for the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, (BPRD) estimated that 325 to 350 people attended the concert, which ran from 7:00-9:00 PM. The city-wide Tito Puente Latin Music Series is sponsored by IBA Arts, Berklee College of Music and BPRD.

The series will continue at O'Day Playground at 7:00 PM on Thursday, July 13 with Puerto Rico's Queen of the Timbales, Zayra Pola, and the third and final O'Day Playground concert will take place on Thursday, August 3 at 7:00 PM, when Jesús Pagán and Conjunto Barrio bring a wide range of Latin beats to the plaza including salsa, merengue, Latin jazz, cumbia and more. The Tito Puente Latin Music Series is free, open to the public and family-friendly.