Puente had recently been treated for heart problems and died at NYU Medical Center, according to his agent, Eddie Rodriguez. CNN has reported Puente died after undergoing heart surgery.

“Tito was for me more than family,” Cuban-born singer Celia Cruz said from Buenos Aires. “Our world is in mourning because one of the souls of Latin music has died.”

Puente recorded more than 100 albums in his six decades in the business. In February, he won his fifth Grammy for best traditional tropical Latin performance for “Mambo Birdland.” He received a National Medal of Arts from President Clinton in 1997.

A trained pianist and percussionist, Puente’s first musical job was as a timbale player with the Machito Orchestra, a group that successfully merged the Big Band sound with a Latin beat.

In 1997, RMM Records released 50 Years of Swing, a three-CD, 50-song compilation of Puente’s works over a 50-year span.

Among Puente’s Grammy-winning recordings were “Mambo Diablo,” “Goza Mi Tambal” and a three-album tribute to Benny More featuring dozens of top Latin artists.

Puente had just completed his 120th album, with Eddie Palmieri, called Por Fin/At Last, and was working on a symphonic arrangement of “Oye Como Va,” according to Rodriguez. The song was an early hit for Carlos Santana.

Shortness of breath prompted Puente to seek medical treatment last April. CNN reports that doctors diagnosed a faulty heart valve, and Puente underwent open-heart surgery at the hospital Wednesday morning to repair it.

“There was no doubt in anybody’s mind that this was a procedure he was going to recover from,” Rodriguez told CNN.

“In front of a bandstand you’ve got to be a showman,” Puente once said. “Once, I was strictly a musician with a long face and back to the audience. Now I’m a showman, selling what I’m doing, giving the people good vibes.”

He is survived by his wife, Margie, two sons and a daughter.