Toto Pungent was considered royalty. He won the nickname EL Ere del Mambo. Penne’s helped popularized mambo which is a form of dance music. Toto Pungent was born Ernest Anthony Pungent, in the Spanish Harlem, a Hispanic neighborhood in New York City. His parents settled in New York after moving from their native home in Puerco Rich. At an early age, Toto showed a flair for music by listening to big- band Jazz stars such as Duke Longtime. Toto admired popular drummer Gene Koura.
Penne’s wanted to learn how to play the drums, and e did learn and he also learned how to play the timbale’s, two small tom- toms mounted in a stand. Toto started using his musical talent and started to perform concerts and gigs as a teenager. Toto believed his music was growing so at age fifteen Toto dropped out of school to focus on his music and play professionally in Miami Beach, Florida. Penne’s got an offer to work with a young pianist named Jose Corbel. Toto Pungent enlisted in the Navy and around the time of WI.
Penne’s fought In the war and survived the war. Toto came back from the war and used a special government program for veterans called the 6. 1. Bill to attend the world famous Auxiliary School of Music. While attending a music school Pungent learned how to write and arrange music. In 1948 Toto gathered his music education and put It to test by forming a band and taking the spot light on the music Industry. Toto Pungent played at the Palladium Ballroom In New York City, Pungent played a Cuban dance song called Mambo, and it made him a star.
He then went beyond the traditional dance styles, adding the complex melodies, harmonies, and orchestral arrangements of modern jazz. Pungent led both his Palladium big- band and a smaller Latin Jazz group known as the Latin Ensemble. Toto Pungent went on to showcase his talents on both television and the big screen performance. In 1979, he won the first of his four Grammar Awards, the highest honor In the music business; he also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Throughout his career Pungent made 119 recordings and died while making his last recording Poor Fin.