Meanwhile, in Latin Music Affairs

This blog item contains two, separate, unrelated (except for being about music) pieces of data. The second is actually more important but the first is of such unparalleled entertainment value that it is presented, well, first: An email from Tito Puente, Jr., himself, bearing the following subject line (repeated in 72 point copy within the body of the email), was received this morning: Tito Puente, Jr. Celebrates his Paternity.

Well, that is odd. All these years it seemed obvious who his dad was... Actually, though, TPJ has become a father:

His daughter Miranda Cristina was born last Monday, October 16, 2006 at Palmetto Park General Hospital in Hialeah. Son of the world-class percussionist Tito Puente and his longtime girlfriend Gloria Martinez shared the moment with family from New York City.

It can be taken to mean that Gloria Martinez is the longtime girlfriend of TPJ, not TPS, the latter having long since departed this plane.

The artist, who stopped his tour to spend this week with his long time girlfriend, Gloria Martinez, was joined by his family, who arrived from New York City in time for the occasion; Margaret, his mom and the widow of the late Tito Puente, his brother Ronald, and sister Audrey, who is a well known TV meteorologist for CBS-TV in New York.

Deconstruction: Again, note the delineation between "longtime girlfriend" and the separate, more equal "family." Guess the "celebrates" part of the "tour" doesn't include a stop in Las Vegas for, you know, a wedding ring and stuff.

Meanwhile, the new father will continue with his concerts throughout the United States next week, now celebrating the arrival of Miranda Cristina to his life, as his father would, with every beat of the timbales.

Yeah, cause, you know, you wouldn't want to spend any time off the road in order to soak up one of those "first time she smiled/looked at me/squeezed my finger moment." Stay classy, TPJ!

Another late arrival on the scene this week is the recently announced yet long in the works Univision Radio's Amor A La M�sica 107.5 FM Concert, which will be at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the American Airlines Arena. The concert will feature a (now, seemingly rare) performance by Ricky Martin, as well as the much less infrequently seen Alejandro Sanz, Laura Pausini, David Bisbal, Olga Ta�on, and Fonseca. Tickets cost $50 to $85 and are on sale now at www.univision.com, via Ticketmaster at 305-358-5885, and at the American Airlines Arena Box Office 305-777-1000.

Proceeds from the concert will benefit Liga Contra el Cancer, which provides free medical care to low-income cancer. — Jean Carey