Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra with a first time appearance on the channel (and probably not the last :-) - one could maybe remark "where has he been?" Well, 'better late than never' n'est-ce pas ;-) and Mr Cugat is a name that sure cannot be 'left out' .... With "Perfidia" Xavier Cugat already scored a huge hit in 1940 together with singer Miguelito Valdes. Born in Spain (Catalonia),Cugat then emigrated to Cuba (at age 5) and finally travelled to the US in 1915 with his family. There, he soon formed his own band and this orchestra soon became the house band of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. For more than 15 years (1944-1960) Cugat travelled between NY and Los Angeles, where he participated in a few movies (eg "Bathing Beauty" 1944) His later work, especially the albums which he recorded in the early sixties, is considered by insiders as his absolute best. You may judge for yourself as this track "Cuba Libre" (co-composed by Cugat) was originally released on the fabulous "Cugi's Cocktails" album from 1963.
If you like Latin Big Band music, then this is something 'not to be missed'
So ... satisfy your musical thirst with this "Cuba Libre" by Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra ..... Cheers !
