After a few months of training, he suffered a leg injury and was discharged in October.
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In 1985, New York mayor Ed Koch named the intersection of East 111th Street and Third Avenue "Machito Square", a location in Spanish Harlem which is one block from East 110th Street, renamed "Tito Puente Way" after the 2000 death of Tito Puente.
Machito |
In the United States, he collaborated with many musicians, including Dean Martin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Stan Kenton, René Touzet, Machito and Tito Puente.
Historians and fans of this era as well as the older generation of Latinos, will remember most of these artists such as Arsenio Rodríguez, Candido, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Machito, Johnny Pacheco, Yomo Toro, Cachao, Miguelito Valdez, Doc Cheetham, Alfredo "Chocolate" Armentero, Mauricio Smith, Richie Ray, Marcelino Guerra and many others.
They worked closely and often with legends such as Tito Puente, Machito, Sammy Davis, Jr., Harry Belafonte and many other stars of the 1950s and 1960s.
In telling Cesar’s story, Hijuelos weaves in cameo appearances by several real-life mambo musicians, including Desi Arnaz, Tito Puente, Pérez Prado, Machito and Mongo Santamaría.