Xavier Cugat (; ; 1 January 1900 &ndash; 27 October 1990) was an American musician<!-- Per this article's Talk page, DO NOT CHANGE the subject's label to "Spanish". --> and bandleader who was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music in the United States. Originally from Girona, Catalonia in Spain, he spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba, before arriving in New York City in 1915. A trained violinist and arranger, he was the leader of the resident orchestra at the Waldorf–Astoria hotel from 1933 to 1949 and a prolific recording artist for 40 years. He became known as the "Rumba King." A restaurateur in West Hollywood and New York, he and his band appeared in numerous motion pictures in the 1930s and 1940s. He was also a caricature artist.

Early life

Xavier Cugat was born with the Catalan name Francesc d'Assís Xavier Cugat Mingall de Bru i Deulofeu, or, more simply in standard form with his mother's name last, Xavier Cugat i Mingall in Girona, Catalonia in Spain on 1 January 1900. He identified as Catalan his entire life. His family emigrated to Cuba when he was three years old. On 6 July 1915 he and his family arrived in New York City on the SS Havana.

Cugat regularly embellished his life history as a strategy of self-promotion, sometimes making it difficult to determine the facts of his life. He returned to New York disappointed at his prospects of becoming a professional violinist.) Assigned to create a caricature of the Mexican star Dolores del Río, he accidentally drew her double instead, Carmen Castillo.

Latin band leader

For more than 30 years Cugat shuttled between New York and Los Angeles, conducting Latin music on both coasts of the United States. In 1931, he took his band to New York for the opening of the Waldorf–Astoria hotel. In 1933 he replaced Jack Denny as leader of the hotel's resident band. For the next sixteen years, until 1949, he led the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra. One of his trademark gestures was to hold a chihuahua while he waved his baton with the other arm. For the opening act of any performance, he would invariably play the theme My Shawl that he had composed based on Catalan folk music. The society banned its music from being broadcast after a dispute with the networks over fees. This greatly limited the songs that most bands could play on the air, but Cugat was able form play lists using a library of more than 500 non-society Latin tunes. Cugat performed and recorded the Cuban classic "The Peanut Vendor" (El Manisero) with many artists throughout his career. In 1945 Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby recorded with the Cugat orchestra. In the 1950s he made several recordings with his wife, singer Abbe Lane. His orchestra also included Lina Romay, Tito Rodriguez, Yma Sumac, and Miguelito Valdés. Cugat directed over 150 recordings with the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra between 1937 and 1942. The restaurant closed in 1986.

In 1958 Cugat opened another "Casa Cugat" restaurant in New York City, featuring Spanish, Cuban, and Mexican cuisine, but the restaurant lasted only a year.

thumb|200px|right|Sheet music cover for the song "[[I'm Old Fashioned" from the 1942 film You Were Never Lovelier, starring Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, and featuring Xavier Cugat.]]

Career in films

The popularity of Cugat and his orchestra led to appearances in films, such as: In Gay Madrid (1930), Go West, Young Man (1936) with Mae West, Cugat fathered no children. He was the author of two autobiographies, Rumba is my Life (1948), and Yo Cugat: Mis primeros 80 Años (I Cugat: My first 80 years) (1981), published in Spain. maintaining a "Cugat Room". Despite ongoing heart and lung ailments, at age 86 he formed a new 16-piece band and began touring Spain. He died of heart failure on 27 October 1990 at age 90 at the Quiron Clinic in Barcelona.

Legacy

In 1988 the town of Girona named a wide boulevard through the neighborhood of Fontajau as the Rambla Xavier Cugat in his honor. In 1990 the Generalitat of Catalonia awarded Cugat the Creu de Sant Jordi (Cross of Saint George). Cugat was posthumously inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

The New Xavier Cugat Orchestra continued to play Cugat's music for another 20 years after his retirement. Piano player Robert Kasha purchased the bandleader’s name, music and rights to the band from Cugat, and Kasha played piano for the new band, led by his wife, singer Ada Cavallo. The film, 1 hr 27 min duration, was written and directed by Diego Mas Trelles.

The personal papers and other personal and professional material of Xavier Cugat are preserved in the Library of Catalonia in Barcelona.

thumb|150px|right|Cover of a 1950 sheet music book for Xavier Cugat hits, "Requestfully Yours". Cugat often drew caricatures to illustrate his music. Note the ever present [[chihuahua (dog breed)|chihuahua.]]

Discography

References

  • Personal papers of Xavier Cugat, Biblioteca de Catalunya; accessed 8 November 2015
  • Xavier Cugat recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
  • Movie scene "Jungle Rhumba" from the film Neptune's Daughter (1949), featuring "Casa Cugat" and Cugat's orchestra. (Youtube video)
  • Biographical film Sex, Maracas, and Chihuahuas (2016, 1 hr 27 m, Spanish) (Youtube video)
  • A brief interview with Cugat in 1986 in Catalan. (Youtube video)
  • Autobiography: "Rumba is my Life" (1948). (Archive.org)
  • Autobiography: "Yo Cugat" (1981) in Spanish. (Archive.org)
  • Xavier Cugat fan site.