Joe Cuba
Joe Cuba (* 1931 in New York City ; † February 15, 2009 ibid; actually Gilberto Miguel Calderón ) was a Puerto Rican musician who founded the boogaloo .
Live and act
Calderón grew up in Spanish Harlem , a neighborhood in Manhattan that is mainly inhabited by Latin Americans .
In 1950 he played congas with J. Panama and a group called La Alfarona X. It broke up and he began to study law. At a concert he saw Tito Puente play the piece "Abaniquito" . He spoke to Tito and they became friends. He started his own band. In 1954, his agent recommended that he change the band name from Jose Calderon Sextet to Joe Cuba Sextet , and they gave their first concert at the Stardust Ballroom under this new name.
In 1962 they recorded "To Be With You" with singer Cheo Feliciano and Jimmy Sabater . Often they mixed Spanish and English in their texts and became an important part of the Nuyorican Movement .
In 1965 they had their first crossover hit with the fusion of Latin and soul "El Pito (I Never Go Back to Georgia )" . The coro “Never Go Back to Georgia” was taken from Dizzy Gillespie's intro to the Afro-Cuban piece “Manteca”. Jimmy Sabater later said none of them had ever been to Georgia. Timbales , congas , sometimes bongos , vibraphone , bass and piano are part of the line-up. In 1967 they had another hit with "Bang Bang" , which ushered in the boogaloo era. Another well-known hit was "Sock It to Me Baby" .
Joe Cuba and his sextet worked with the following musicians, among others:
Charlie Palmieri was musical director until his death in 1988. Joe Cuba and his sextet have sold millions of albums.
In April 1999, Joe Cuba was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame . He was the director of the Museum of La Salsa in East Harlem.
Joe Cuba died in February 2009 from a bacterial infection at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cuba, Joe |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Calderón, Gilberto Miguel (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Puerto Rican musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1931 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City , New York, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 15, 2009 |
| Place of death | New York City , New York, United States |