And once 11:15 p.m. strikes in the Queen City of the Plains, the rest of the world had better look out. The Latin Giants of Jazz will be recorded live -- and how! -- from a New Year's blowout at the Holiday Inn DIA that kicks off earlier in the evening with Denver's own Conjunto Colores. Featuring all-stars from the former Tito Puente Orchestra, the Giants will let everyone across the airwaves know that Denver is ready to shake what her mama gave her. Along with honoring Puente's legacy, the band plays the music of Machito and Tito Rodríguez -- conjuring a bygone era from New York's Palladium Ballroom in the 1950s and '60s -- as well as an eclectic collection of new Latin-jazz works. Special guest Eddie Palmieri, a seven-time Grammy winner, is widely considered to be the heir to Puente's throne. Over his forty-year career, the innovative Palmieri has mixed salsa with R&B, pop and rock. He'll be accompanied in Denver by vocalist Herm´n Olivera.
Highly contagious salsa rhythms will stretch into the first moments of the new year, when Giants music director José Madera will unveil his special cha-cha arrangement of "Auld Lang Syne." Anda, muchachos!