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.[1]
Both of Curbelo's parents were born in Cuba, but his father had studied classical violin in the
Tito Rodriguez
; the group split time between New York and Miami, and played in some of both cities' top nightclubs and ballrooms.
Starting in 1953, Curbelo worked with a sextet which included
Oscar de Leon. Curbelo disbanded the group in 1959 and took up managing, founding an agency for Latin musicians called Alpha Artists.[3] Throughout the 1960s, Curbelo managed most of the major Latin bands in New York and was successful in negotiating favorably with promoters on behalf of his artists.[3]
Curbelo invested in real estate later in life and moved to Miami in the 1980s, where he continued booking artists for festivals. He died in 2012 after spending the last few months of his life at a hospice in Aventura, Florida.[1]
References
- ^ a b Cuban-born jazz manager buried in Miami; he was 95. Associated Press via Yahoo! News, September 24, 2012.
- ^ Allmusic
- ^ New York Times, September 22, 2012.
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