Living
Memories of Joe Cuba
By JAQO
Gilberto
Calderón, wisely baptized as Joe Cuba by a music promoter,
managed to carve a niche in the history of New York based Hispanic
dance music with an innovative and simple musical formula based on
a rhythmic sextet: a singer accompanied only by a percussion section
colored by the sound of the vibraphone.
He was
not the creator of such an ensemble, or its exclusive purveyor, but
such a sound will be forever associated with him as the Joe Cuba Sextet
was its premiere expression. Although he figures in the musical scene
since the early 1950’s, his true claim to fame came in the 1960’s
when the New York music environment was undergoing a transitional
period after the Big Band Mambo era gave way to sundry musical expressions
of which his sextet figured prominently within the context of the
Boogaloo period.
Even
before the Boogaloo times, however, Joe’s career as band leader, composer
and performer showed clear signs of what would become salient features
of the Salsa way of doing music, in which he actually was not an outstanding
figure. One could very well summarize his musical importance this
way:
- The
Joe Cuba Sextet was able to popularize the use of English
lyrics within a rough and hard-charging percussive musical milieu
that was equally adept at enamoring any type of dancing or listening
audience of almost any kind of background.
- Joe
Cuba was able to attain popularity by remaining anchored, as
well as giving expression to what he knew best: “el barrio” or the
“hood.”
- Demented
notions of musical purity or authenticity never enslaved Joe’s Sextet.
He was true to himself and his environment in that the work of
Joe Cuba is one of the best examples of what Newyoricanness
is all about: adaptation to changing market and social conditions
as a means to an authentic and marketable way of being and living.
Herein
you have a good link on him and his work. His best works are excellent
party-till-you-drop-danceable-must-have recordings:
HIS
BIOGRAPHY
The earliest
memories of Joe Cuba in my neural network are associated with
what we called in Puerto Rico during the 1960’s and 1970’s, “paris
de marquesina” or house garage parties.
It is difficult to forget how difficult it was to keep up with their
fun-fast-hard-swinging brand of Salsa while dancing to their faster
tunes; although it is not difficult at all to remember how sweet it
was to squeeze someone close to you during their slower and more romantic
tunes. The latter was particularly true when José “Cheo” Feliciano
was vocalizing. More often than not, us teenagers ended with an erect
penis at the end of said songs hopelessly wishing that no one would
notice or that another equally fantastic Salsa number would follow
to divert the blood flow some place else. The ladies, of course, managed
to have a great time too.
Joe
Cuba’s place is secured in the music history of New York and
the rest of the world influenced by such musical developments.
Not bad for a Harlem-born stickball player who was not one of the
best conga players ever, but managed to use what he had to gain musical
divinity.
More Information:
Afropop
World Wide
Stickball
Hall of Fame
