Salsa Night with Tito Puente Jr.

The Suffolk is opening up the dance floor for Salsa Night with Tito Puente Jr. on Thursday, July 13, at 8 p.m. On April 20, the late Tito Puente, “King of Mambo” and “King of Latin Music,” would have turned 100 years old. Now, his son Tito Puente Jr. is celebrating his father’s centennial at Suffolk Theater with a Salsa Night.

Always honoring his father’s legacy, Tito Puente, Jr. has also made a name for himself as one of the most exciting Latin musicians touring today. He has become an audience favorite in casinos, performing arts centers, symphony halls and jazz festivals worldwide, performing more than 300 shows over the past five years.

The comparison is inevitable. Puente Jr. carries his father with him — imprinted on his physical being and locked in his soul. It’s in his looks, his joy, and his music. Tito Jr. is on a passionate mission. The younger Puente is determined to nurture the musical legacy left by his father. He refuses to let his father , who died in 2000, become a distant memory.

“He was just too vibrant, too exciting. There was magic in the music my father made. It made people happy all over the world,” said Puente Jr. who has found captive audiences who echo his passion.

Crowds are that lured to a venue by the father are returning to see the son — and to once again participate in the high voltage celebration that takes place on stage.

Puente Jr.’s 2004 album “In My Father’s Shoes” featured the classic Puente titles and was spun into a BET Jazz television special of the same name. He was also seen in a tribute to his father’s music on NBC’s special, “The Apollo at 70: A Hot Night in Harlem.” He has also appeared on the ABC soap opera hit “One Life to Live” in performance with his big band.

Symphony appearances include Dallas, San Antonio, Colorado, South Bend, and upcoming performances with the Palm Desert Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marvin Hamlisch.

Puente Jr.’s new CD release, “Got Mambo?,” is a mixture of the old and the new as he takes a musical departure into some powerful new music he can truly call his own. Guest artists Bobby Cruz and Hansel & Raul help make this a coming of age project for Puente Jr. and the album is receiving heavy praise from tropical and Latin jazz critics alike.

“People who don’t know anything about Latin music know my father and people always, always smile when they say my father’s name,” says Puente Jr. of his father’s lasting impact. “That is a very special gift I have been given.”

Tickets are $35 to $55 at thesuffolk.org. Suffolk Theater is at 118 East Main Street, Riverhead.