Song:Brazil
Album:A Proper Introduction To Xavier Cugat: Say "Si Si"
I'm pretty sure that Xavier Cugat is just a name to most music fans. But he was an important figure in the popularization of Latin music in the 40s. Brazil was one of his biggest hits. He was born Jan. 1, 1900 in Girona, Catalonia, Spain but he grew up in Cuba. Cugat was a classically trained violinist and a child prodigy. At age 13, he played with the Orchestra of the Teatro Nacional in Havana. His family moved to New York in 1915. Cugat accompanied opera singers and he was involved in the tango craze. He even worked as a cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times. But his road to musical fame came when he became the leader of the house band at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel. And that led to appearing in films and a long recording career. He led the Waldorf Astoria band for 16 years. He recorded for RCA in the 30s and Columbia in the 40s. Brazil was his biggest chart hit. It reached #2 on the hit parade in 1943. That song is a standard today and Cugat popularized it. This budget comp from the British label Proper is a good intro to Cugat's music. He also appeared in several films in the 40s. The best of these was the 1942 film You Were Never Lovelier starring Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth. He also appeared in several Esther Williams films at MGM. Cugat continued to perform in the 50s usually with his wife Abbe Lane. And of course most folks should remember Cugat from his 70s appearances with wife Charo. After Cugat divorced Charo in 1978, he retired and moved to Spain. Xavier Cugat died on Oct. 27, 1990 at age 90. Here's a video for Brazil by Xavier Cugat.
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