Salvador "Sal" Cuevas (June 16, 1955 – April 9, 2017) was an American
salsa bassist known for his association with the
Fania All-Stars from 1978 to 1985.
Although he played the
upright bass, he was one of the most popular
electric bass
The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an electric but with a longer neck and scale leng ...
ists in the New York salsa scene, often playing in a
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
style.
"He was the first to bring the slaps and funk style that he learned from
R&B, Funk, and
Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
music, into Salsa music." According to
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Idol achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X ...
, Sal Cuevas came up with the bass for “
Eyes without a face” when Billy was looking for a sound that was powerful enough to compliment the dark unromantic lyrics.
Early life
Cuevas was born in
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
in 1955 and raised in
The Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
by Puerto Rican parents. Aged five his father began teaching him to play chords on the guitar.
[
] The demographics of the city during the time provided Cuevas with an array of musical influences which he absorbed and later incorporated into his bass playing technique and style. At age 12 he played with his trio on
Myrta Silva's show ''Una Hora Contigo'' (An Hour with You).
He explained in an interview, “Being from New York you are exposed to not only the Latin part of music, you are also exposed to Rhythm and Blues,
Punk, and also Jazz, so I started playing all of that stuff when I went to Junior High school. I spoke to my teacher and he said ‘why don’t you play the bass?' He doesn't know how right he was."
For his high school years he attended the
High School of Music & Art. At age 17, he began performing with
Tony Pabon y La Protesta. After graduating high school he entered
Mannes School of Music and left in his first semester when he was hired by Mongo Santamaria to join his world tour.
Career
Cuevas was a member of various notable salsa ensembles, including Los Kimbos, the
Fania All-Stars and those of
Johnny Pacheco,
Héctor Lavoe and
Willie Colón. During this time, he was also one of five bass players in New York City who recorded many of the "Jingles" for TV and radio; the others were
Marcus Miller, Will Lee, Francisco Centeno and
Neil Jason.
Cuevas performed and recorded with many salsa artists in New York for decades, before moving to
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
in his later years. While performing and recording, Cuevas worked as a New York City
Corrections Officer,
New York City Police Officer, Florida State Corrections Officer and ultimately retired as a Florida Police Seargent after he relocated to southern
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
.
Cuevas enjoyed the title of
musical director to
Willie Colón's orchestra both during Willie's collaborations with famed
Panamanian singer/songwriter/actor
Rubén Blades and Colón's solo singing ventures. He played bass on
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Idol achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X ...
's hit "
Eyes Without a Face" from the 1983 studio album ''
Rebel Yell''.
Style
His bass slapping and string snapping technique has become common for bassists within Latin "salsa" music. On the electric upright bass, Cuevas incorporated techniques which also (until then) were rarely heard of in Latin music such as slides (''
glissandi
In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a wikt:glide, glide from one pitch (music), pitch to another (). It is an Italianized Musical terminology, musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In ...
''), and utilizing the very upper ranges of the instrument, as heard on "La ceiba y la siguaraya", recorded with
Celia Cruz and
La Sonora Ponceña.
Cuevas has performed and recorded with
Ray Barretto,
Joe Bataan,
Willie Colon,
Larry Harlow,
Monguito,
Johnny Pacheco,
Louie Ramirez, Ralph Robles,
Mongo Santamaria,
Tony Pabon,
Bobby Valentin,
Héctor Lavoe,
Adalberto Santiago,
Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez,
Ismael Miranda, Ray Maldonado, Ralph Marzan,
Orestes Vilató,
Roberto Rodriguez, Jose Rodriguez, and
Barry Rogers,
Tito Puente
Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also k ...
,
Eddie Palmieri
Eddie Palmieri (born December 15, 1936) is an American Grammy Award-winning pianist, bandleader, musician, and composer of Corsican and Puerto Rican ancestry. He is the founder of the bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II, and Harlem River Drive.
...
,
Ricardo Ray,
Jimmy Sabater,
Celia Cruz,
Machito
Frank Grillo (born Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo; December 3, 1909 – April 15, 1984) known professionally as Machito (previously as Macho), was a Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music ...
,
Ismael Miranda,
Ismael Quintana,
Cheo Feliciano
Cheo Feliciano (3 July 1935 – 17 April 2014) was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa and bolero music. Feliciano was the owner of a recording company called "Coche Records". He was the first tropical singer to perform at the "Amira ...
,
Tito Nieves,
La India,
Mongo Sanatamaria,
Gloria Estefan
Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (; ; born September 1, 1957) is an American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of t ...
,
The Manhattans,
Angela Bofil,
Mandy More,
Soledad Bravo,
Jose Feliciano,
Jon Lucien, Los Gaitanes,
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Idol achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X ...
,
Lenny Kravitz,
Black Eyed Peas,
Usher,
Il Volo
Il Volo (; ) is an Italians, Italian operatic pop Trio (music), trio, consisting of Gianluca Ginoble, Piero Barone, and Ignazio Boschetto. They describe their music as "popera". Having won the Sanremo Music Festival 2015, they represented Italy ...
,
Jon Secada, Frank De Vita,
Cissy Houston,
Kristy MacColl,
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...
,
Ricky Martin
Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...
,
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...
,
David Bisbal,
Thalia, Los Llegales,
Christian Castro,
Oscar Deleon,
Eddie Palmieri
Eddie Palmieri (born December 15, 1936) is an American Grammy Award-winning pianist, bandleader, musician, and composer of Corsican and Puerto Rican ancestry. He is the founder of the bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II, and Harlem River Drive.
...
,
Charlie Palmieri,
Hector El Father,
Obie Bermudez,
Ricardo Montaner,
Don Omar,
Tego Calderon,
Marc Anthony
Marco Antonio Muñiz (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer and actor. He is the top selling salsa artist of all time. A four-time Grammy Award, eight-time Latin Grammy Award and twenty-nine-tim ...
,
Fernando Villalona,
Papo Luca,
Dave Valentin
David Peter Valentin (April 29, 1952 – March 8, 2017) was an American Latin jazz flautist of Puerto Rican descent.
Life and career
Valentin was born to Puerto Rican parents in The Bronx in New York City. He attended The High School of Mus ...
,
Noel Pointer,
Isaac Delgado, Airto & Flora Purim.
Death
Cuevas died on April 9, 2017, at Miami's
Pembroke Pines Memorial Hospital. He had complications from
diabetes
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
and in previous days suffered a massive stroke and was left in a
semicoma.
See also
*
Salsa
*
Charanga (Cuba)
Charanga is a traditional ensemble that plays Cuban dance music. They made Cuban dance music popular in the 1940s and their music consisted of heavily son-influenced material, performed on European instruments such as violin and flute by a Char ...
*
Afro-Cuban jazz
*
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuevas, Sal
1955 births
2017 deaths
Musicians from Manhattan
American musicians of Puerto Rican descent
American double-bassists
Male double-bassists
Fania Records artists
Salsa musicians
Jazz fusion musicians
Avant-garde jazz musicians
Musicians from the Bronx
The High School of Music & Art alumni
American salsa musicians
Fania All-Stars members