Music & Sound

Joe Cuba, R.I.P.

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• Monday 16th February 2009

In 1967, Mount Vernon High School (4000 students) adopted “Bang Bang” by The Joe Cuba Sextette as our informal anthem; every morning for weeks, it played on the PA system as we screwed around by the lockers and filtered into homeroom.

I never forgot it. It was one of the first records on my want list when I started buying records in the 1980′s, and I still play it out. Cheo Feliciano and Jimmy Sabater on the vocals, I believe. Cuba played congas, and there was always a vibraphonist.

Joe Cuba and his bands made a lot of other great records over the years, and in 1999 he was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall Of Fame, at a ceremony in the South Bronx. I’d produced a lot of the musical pieces for the presentations, and after the shebang ended, I caught up with Mr. Cuba and shook his hand. A very satisfying moment, I must say.

To sum up my veneration for the man and his music: the PC in my studio used to scroll a screensaver that read “Joe Cuba Is God.”

I’m sure there will be excellent obits written in the next few days, and I’ll add them as I see them (The NY Times has weighed in). In the meantime, there’s a hodgepodge of information on the web; Vinilemania from Italy has a smattering of factoids and some photos, Jun Flores has a lengthy and scholarly look at Boogaloo and the Cuba Factor, the Stickball Hall Of Fame lays claim to part of the Cuba legend, and the AP has a short, serviceable obit.

Cornbread, hog maws, and chitterlings. Ahh, beep beep.