Joe Cuba Lives!

You want some Latin Boogaloo? We got some Latin boogaloo for ya. Free MP3 + promo video clip, below.

By Blurt Staff

A deluxe 2-disc, 34-track box set of the father of Latin Boogaloo, Joe Cuba, is en route from Fania Records on Feb. 23 - it's to commemorate the passing, one year ago, of the legendary bandleader and master conga player.   A Man and His Music - El Alcalde Del Barrio collects a slew of recordings never previously compiled in album form along with massive hits like "Bang Bang" and "El Pito (I'll Never Go Back to Georgia)." 

Free MP3: "Bang Bang"

The career-spanning collection was selected and researched by Latin music veteran and prominent producer Bobby Marín, and the tracks have been digitally remastered from the original master tapes. The deluxe set includes a 32-page booklet with extensive liner notes in English and Spanish written byMarín, never-seen photos, and the album covers of Cuba's great recordings. The set joins The Man and His Music series that has featured such artists as Tito Rodríguez, Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Willie Colón, and Rubén Blades, all on the Fania label, whose catalog Código Music recently acquired. Joe Cuba: The Man and His Music is the second release in this series from Código Music.

The backstory:

Joe Cuba's music embodied a perfect balance of sounds and lyrics (both in English and Spanish) that appealed to both Anglo listeners as well as his core Latin devotees.  After listening to songs like "Swinging Mambo" you can hear how the "mayor of the barrio" infiltrated into the Jewish and Italian markets in New York and eventually nationwide.  As architect of the Joe Cuba sound, Joe was adept at creating pure excitement in all of his 240 recorded titles.  Few entertainers can claim to have performed at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, Hollywood Palladium, Madison Square Garden, and the Caribbean Pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair, but Joe certainly could.

Joe Cuba (Gilberto Navarro) was born on April 22, 1931, in Spanish Harlem, New York City, where his Puerto Rican parents moved in the late ‘20's. Captivated by the conga playing of Sabu Martínez, Gilbert took the opportunity to learn the instrument while recovering from a broken leg suffered playing stickball. Gilbert jammed in the street until given the chance to replace Sabu for a few months as part of a local band, La Alfarona, X in 1950.  Shortly after, he joined Spanish Harlem's Joe Panama Quintet, where Jimmy Sabater was a timbales player. After recruiting vibraphonist Tommy Berrios, Gilbert and the band had a falling out with Panama and formed the Cha Cha Boys with Gilbert Calderón as the bandleader. Much to his surprise, Gilbert would soon be billed as "Joe Cuba" by his promoter, Catalino Rolón, and the name would stick.

A generation of Latinos growing up in Spanish Harlem in the 1960's were influenced by their parents more traditional musical tastes, but adapted and combined it with the R&B and Bebop of the time to create their own unique style, which became known as Boogaloo.  Joe Cuba was instrumental in the development of boogaloo and had the biggest hit of the 60s with "Bang Bang," which achieved unprecedented success for Latin music in the US in 1966 when it sold over one million copies.  Joe's pivotal role in the boogaloo style had him nicknamed the "Father of Latin Boogaloo," and his leadership in the community had him coined rightfully so, "the mayor of the barrio" (El Alcalde Del Barrio).

Incidentally, coming up next week and the week after are three unique record release parties in San Francisco, Los Angeles and NYC:

2/11 - SF Record Release Party at the Elbo Room featuring Chico Mann performing live Joe Cuba songs.

2/12 - LA Record Release Party at the Mint featuring Chico Mann and The Boogaloo Assassins performing live Joe Cuba songs.

2/24 - NYC Record Release Party - Full Details tba.