Joe Cuba

Joe Cuba
Birth name	Gilberto Miguel Calderón
Also known as	"Father of Latin Boogaloo" "Sonny"
Born	April 22, 1931 New York City, New York
Died	February 15, 2009 New York City, New York
Genres	Salsa
Occupation(s)	Singer, musician
Years active	1950–2009
Labels	Fania /Codigo
Website	JC

Joe Cuba a.k.a "Sonny" (April 22, 1931 – February 15, 2009) was a musician of Puerto Rican descent who was known as the "Father of Latin Boogaloo".

Early years

Cuba (birth name: Gilberto Miguel Calderón) was born in New York City, Cuba's parents moved from Puerto Rico to New York City in the late 1920s and settled in Spanish Harlem, a Latino community located in Manhattan. Cuba was raised in an apartment building where his father had become the owner of a candy store located on the ground floor (street level floor). His father had organized a stickball club called the Young Devils. Stickball was the main sport activity of the neighborhood. After Cuba broke a leg he took up playing the conga and continued to practice with the conga between school and his free time. Eventually, he graduated from high school and joined a band.

Musical career

In 1950, when he was 19 years old, he played for Joe Panama and also for a group called La Alfarona X. The group soon disbanded and Cuba enrolled in college to study law. While at college he attended a concert in which Tito Puente performed "Abaniquito". He went up to Tito and introduced himself as a student and fan and soon they developed what was to become a lifetime friendship. This event motivated Cuba to organize his own band. In 1954, his agent recommended that he change the band's name from the José Calderón Sextet to the Joe Cuba Sextet and the newly-named Joe Cuba Sextet made their debut at the Stardust Ballroom.

In 1962, Cuba recorded his first album with the Joe Cuba Sextet called "To Be With You", featuring the impressive vocals of Cheo Feliciano and Jimmy Sabater Sr. The band became popular in the New York Latin community. The lyrics to Cuba's music used a mixture of Spanish and English, becoming an important part of the Nuyorican Movement.

In 1965, the Sextet got their first crossover hit with the Latin and soul fusion of "El Pito (I'll Never Go Back to Georgia)" . The "I'll never Go Back to Georgia" chant was taken from Dizzy Gillespie's intro to the seminal Afro-Cuban tune "Manteca." Sabater later revealed that "None of us had ever been to Georgia.

Along with fellow Nuyorican artists such as Ray Barretto and Richie Ray, Cuba was at the forefront of the developing Latin soul sound in New York, merging American R&B styles with Afro-Cuban instrumentation. Cuba was one of the key architects behind the emerging Latin Boogaloo sound, which became a popular and influential Latin style in the latter half of the 1960s. In 1966, his band which included timbales, congas, sometimes bongos, bass, vibraphones, and the piano among its musical instruments, scored a hit on the United States National Hit Parade List with the song "Bang Bang" — which helped kick off the popularity of the boogaloo. He also had a No. 1 hit that year on the Billboard charts with the song "Sock It To Me Baby"

Later years and death

On April 1999, Joe Cuba was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame. In 2004, he was named Grand Marshall of the Puerto Rican Day Parade celebrated in Yonkers, New York. He was also the director of the Museum of La Salsa, located in Spanish Harlem, Manhattan, New York.

Joe Cuba died on February 15, 2009 in New York City after being removed from life support. He had been hospitalized for a persistent bacterial infection. Cuba's remains were cremated at Woodhaven Cemetery. He is survived by his 2 adult children from his first wife (Nina, married in 1960), son Mitchell and daughter Lisa, 3 grandchildren Nicole, Alexis and Rebecca; and his second wife Maria (Married in 1994).

Discography

External audio
You may listen to Joe Cuba's "Bang Bang" here
and to "El Pito" here

Among the songs recorded by Joe Cuba and his sextet are the following:

• 1. Bang Bang;
• 2. Cocinando;
• 3. Ay, Milagro;
• 4. El Ratón;
• 5. Joe Cuba's Latin Hustle;
• 6. My Man Speedy;
• 7. Quinto Sabroso;
• 8. El Pito (I'll Never Go Back To Georgia);
• 9. Trip To Mamboland;
• 10. Sock It To Me;
• 11. Y Tu Abuela Donde Está;
• 12. Oriza Oco;
• 13. Psychedelic Baby;
• 14. Pataquibiriquambambaram;
• 15. Quieres Volver;
• 16. Yo Y Borinquen;
• 17. Mi Salsa Buena;
• 18. Bailadores;
• 19. Joe Cuba's Madness, Pts. 1 and 2;
• 20. Oye Bien;
• 21. Mujer Divina;
• 22. La Tortilla;
• 23. Talk About Love;
• 24. Alafia;
• 25. Ritmo de Joe Cuba;
• 26. Hey Joe Hey Joe;
• 27. Elube Changó;
• 28. Wakini;
• 29. No Coman Cuento;
• 30. To Be With You;
• 31. Mi Lindo Son;
• 32. Oh Yeah;
• 33. Flaco's Cha Cha;
• 34. La Malanga Brava;
• 35. Contigo Aprendí;
• 36. Ya Se Acabó;

Discography (Albums)

• I Tried To Dance All Night (1956)
• Mardi Gras Music For Dancing Vol. 1 (1956)
• Cha Cha Chá (1957)
• Mardi Gras Music For Dancing Vol. 2 (1958)
• Mardi Gras Music For Dancing Vol. 3 (1959)
• Brava Pachanga (1959)
• Merengue Loco (1961)
• Joe Cuba (1961)
• To Be With You (1962)
• Steppin' Out (1962)
• Cha Cha Chás Soothe The Savage Beast (1962)
• Diggin' The Most (1963)
• Vagabundeando (Hangin' Out) (1963)
• Comin' at You (1964)
• El Alma del Barrio: The Soul of Spanish Harlem (1964)
• Breakin' Out (1965)
• Bailadores (1965)
• Red, Hot and Cha Cha Chá (1965)
• We Must Be Doing Something Right! (1966)
• Bang Bang (1967)
• The Velvet Voice of Jimmy Sabater (1967)
• My Man Speedy (1968)
• Recuerdos de Mi Querido Barrio (1971)
• Bustin' Out (1972)
• ¡Estamos Haciendo Algo Bien! (We Must Be Doing Something Right!) (1972)
• Hecho y Derecho (Doing it Right) (1973)
• Cocinando la Salsa (Cookin' The Sauce) (1976)
• El Pirata del Caribe (The Caribbean Pirate) (1979)
• Steppin' Out... Again! (1995)
• Salsa y Bembé (1998)

Discography (Compilations)

• El Alcalde del Barrio (2010)

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans

References

• Gonzalez, David, "Mourning Joe Cuba, a Bandsman Whose Legacy Was Joy", The New York Times, February 19, 2009

External links

• Living Memories of Joe Cuba
• Joe Cuba Sextet discography at MusicBrainz