I-P Ismael Rivera Ismael Rivera a.k.a. "Maelo" (October 5, 1931 – May 13, 1987), was a Puerto Rican composer and singer of Puerto Rican music. Rivera was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, a sector of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was the first of five children born to Luis and Margarita Rivera. His father, Luis, was a carpenter... Read more ... Israel Cachao Lopez Name: Israel Cachao Lopez Date of birth : 1918-09-14 Date of death : 2008-03-22 Birthplace : Havana, Cuba Nationality : Cuban Category : Famous Figures Last modified : 2011-12-02 Credited as : musician, composer, "Mambo Mass" Israel "Cachao" López, often known as Cachao, was a Cuban musician and composer who helped popularize mambo in the... Read more ... Jerry Masucci Name: Jerry MasucciDate of birth: (October 7, 1934 – December 21, 1997) Affiliation: Co-founder of Fania Records. Masucci was born October 7, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York to Urbano and Elvira Masucci. His brother is Alex Masucci (born November 11, 1949). Masucci moved to a home on the Upper East Side of New York, eventually... Read more ... Jimmy Sabater Jimmy Sabater (April 11, 1936 – February 8, 2012) was an American Latin musician, who was a three-time winner of the ACE Awards. He was a singer and timbales player, who primarily worked with The Joe Cuba Sextet.Sabater is the son of Nestor Sabater and Teresa Gonzalez of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Born Jaime Sabater, Sr.... Read more ... Joe Cuba 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". 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... Read more ... Joey Pastrana Once the song “Rumors” made its way into the New York City radio stations, Joey Pastrana knew he had that rarest of hits: The crossover. The melody of “Rumors” was released in the year 1967 and was an instant success with audiences across the city. People didn’t have to be Latin to enjoy or understand... Read more ... José Curbelo José Curbelo (February 18, 1917, Havana - September 21, 2012, Miami) was a Cuban-born American pianist and manager. Curbelo was a key figure in Latin jazz in New York City in the 1940s and helped to popularize Mambo and the cha cha dance in the 1950s. Both of Curbelo's parents were born in Cuba, but... Read more ... José Fajardo José Fajardo is a Cuban charanga bandleader and flautist. After performing with the band of Antonio María Romeu, he formed his own charanga band in 1957. Jose Fajardo was born in 1919 in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and played the traditional five- keyed wooden flute in a family band led by his father Alberto Fajardo, a... Read more ... José Febles José Febles was an extraordinary musician, arranger and producer of the genre of "Salsa " in the 70s , 80s and early 90s. Their arrangements were recorded by great figures of Salsa , including Hector Lavoe, Pete " El Conde" Rodriguez , Classical The Joint Camilo Azuquita , Johnny Pacheco , Raphael De Jesus ,... Read more ... Jose Mangual, Sr José Mangual was born in Puerto Rico on March 18, 1924, and came to New York at the age of 14 (just weeks from the day I was born). In 1956, I first saw José Mangual play at a Monday night jam session at New York City's famous jazz club, Birdland. I remember being amazed... Read more ... Juan Formel Los Van Van Los Van Van is a Cuban band led by bassist Juan Formell, and is the most recognized post-revolution Cuban band. Formell, and ex-members Changuito and Pupy are some of the most important figures in contemporary Cuban music. In 1967, Formell became musical director of Elio Reve's charanga orchestra. The sound of Orquesta Revé at that... Read more ... Juancito Torres Juancito Torres Trumpeter , Arranger , Composer , Producer and Director Full name : Juan Torres Velez artistic Qualifying : " The National Trumpet Puerto Rico » Date of Birth: January 14, 1936 Location: Thomas De Castro , Caguas , Puerto Rico died on 26 July 2003 in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Juancito was renowned and Read more ... La Lupe Birth name Guadalupe Victoria Yolí Raymond Also known as La Lupe La Yiyiyi "la Reina del Latin Soul" Born December 23, 1939 Origin Santiago de Cuba, Cuba Died February 29, 1992 (aged 52) Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S. Genres Salsa, Bolero Occupations Singer Years active 1958–1980 Associated acts Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaría, Celia Cruz... Read more ... Louie Ramirez Louie Ramirez (February 24, 1938 - June 7, 1993) was a boogaloo, salsa and latin jazz percussionist, vibraphonist, band leader and composer. He co-wrote with Johnny Pacheco the 1961 hit "El Güiro De Macorina". He has been called "the Quincy Jones of Salsa." Ramirez was born on February 24, 1938 in New York City. He... Read more ... Machito Birth name Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo Also known as Machito a/k/a Frank Grillo Origin Havana, Cuba Died April 19, 1984 London Genres Latin jazz, Cubop Instruments Singing, maracas Years active 1928–1984 Associated acts Afro-Cubans Machito gave conflicting accounts of his birth.[3] He sometimes said he was a native Cuban from Havana. Other accounts place his... Read more ... Manny Oquendo Manny Oquendo (January 1, 1931 – March 25, 2009) was a percussionist of Puerto Rican ancestry. His main instruments were bongós and timbales. [See: "Timbales Demonstration" (Manny Oquendo) and "The Martillo [Bongo] Pattern" (Manny Oquendo) Oquendo grew up in New York City and began studying percussion in 1945. He worked in the bands of tropical... Read more ... Manuel Jimenez One of the first Puerto Rican composers, vocalists, and bandleaders to achieve success in the United States, Manuel Jimenez, or Canario as he was best known, recorded at a prolific rate between 1914 and 1964. Although he claimed to have written more than 1,000 romantic tunes, he is remembered more for helping to establish the... Read more ... Mario Bauzá Mario Bauzá (28 April 1911 – 11 July 1993) was a Cuban musician. He was one of the first to introduce Latin music to the United States by bringing Cuban musical styles to the New York jazz scene. While Cuban bands had popular jazz tunes in their repertoire for years,Bauzá's composition "Tanga" was the first... Read more ... Mario Rivera Mario Rivera endures among the most gifted saxophonists in Latin jazz -- a virtuoso talent equally proficient on tenor, soprano, alto, and baritone, he remains best remembered for his two-decade association with the legendary Tito Puente. Born July 22, 1939, in the Dominican Republic, he relocated from his native Santo Domingo to New York City... Read more ... Marvin Santiago Marvin Santiago (December 26, 1947 – October 6, 2004) was a Puerto Rican salsa singer who became famous all across Latin America during the 1970s. He was also a part-time comedian on Puerto Rican television. Early life Santiago was born in the Santurce district of San Juan, Puerto Rico. In his younger years Santiago lived... Read more ... Mauricio Smith Sr Virtuoso flautist, saxophonist and actor, Mauricio Smith Sr., emerged briefly as a solo star in the mid- to late 60's after a long association with Vincentico Valdes, the La Plata Sextet, Joe Valle, and the Joe Cuba Sextet. Born in Panama and the son of a flautist who played with the Panama Symphony, he studied... Read more ... Milton Cardona Milton Cardona, a Puerto Rican percussionist who was a mainstay of New York salsa, a studio musician on hundreds of albums and a Santeria priest who introduced sacred traditional rhythms to secular audiences, died on Sept. 19 in the Bronx. He was 69. The cause was heart failure, said his wife, Bruni. In Latin bands... Read more ... Mon Rivera Mon Rivera is the common name given to two distinct Puerto Rican musicians (both born in Mayagüez), namely Monserrate Rivera Alers (originally nicknamed Rate, later referred to as "Don Mon", or Mon The Elder, and sometimes erroneously credited as Ramón in songwriting credits) and his oldest son, Efraín Rivera Castillo (1924-1978), (referred to early in... Read more ... Mongo Santamaría Mongo Santamaría or Ramón " Mongo " Santamaría Rodríguez (Havana , April 7, 19221 - Miami , February 1, 2003 ) was a percussionist , arranger and conductor Cuban , one of the leading figures of Latin jazz. Introduced from small in the world of African and Cuban rhythms , becomes famous in the 1940s... Read more ... Nestor Sanchez (El Abino Divino) Nestor Sanchez was born in 1950 in New York, United States. Considered by critics as one of the Top vocalist. The " Divine Albino" died at age 53 in the Bronx, in New York. He had recorded more than 200 albums in a career that began at age 19 in New York in 1968 with... Read more ... Noro Morales Norosbaldo Morales (January 4, 1912, Puerta de Tierra – January 16, 1964, San Juan) was a Puerto Rican pianist and bandleader. Morales learned several instruments as a child. He played in Venezuela from 1924 to 1930, then returned to Puerto Rico to play with Rafaél Muñoz. He emigrated to New York City in 1935, and... Read more ... Pedro Flores Pedro Flores born (March 9, 1894 – July 14, 1979) was one Puerto Rico's best known composers of ballads and boleros. Flores (birth name: Pedro Juan Flores Córdova[note 1]) was one of twelve children born into a poor family in the town of Naguabo, Puerto Rico. Flores' father died when he was only nine years... Read more ... Pérez Prado Dámaso Pérez Prado (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeɾes ˈpɾaðo]; December 11, 1916 – September 14, 1989) was a Cuban bandleader, musician (singer, organist and pianist), and composer.