vn, voc, 1900-1990 ES, Girona
Musician / Arranger of Latin and Jazz
A.k.a. Francisco de Asis Javier Cugat Mingall de Bru y Deulofeu Luchese Liebhaber
Born: January 1, 1900, Girona, Spain Died: October 27, 1990, Barcelona, Spain Catalan-Cuban-American bandleader whom many consider to have been very influential in incorporating Latin music into popular music in the United States. Perez Prado followed in Cugat's footsteps. Cugat was born in Girona, in Catalonia (Spain). He emmigrated with his family to Cuba when he was five, and trained as a classical violinist, playing with the Orchestra of the Teatro Nacional in Havana. On 6 July 1915, Cugat and his family arrived in New York. Entering the world of show business, he played with a band called “The Gigolos” during the tango craze. Later, he went to work for the Los Angeles Times as a cartoonist, and his caricatures were later nationally syndicated. In the late 1920s, as sound began to be used in films, he put together another tango band that had some success in early short musical films. By the early 1930s, he began appearing with his group in feature films, and Cugat took his band to New York for the 1931 opening of Waldorf Astoria Hotel and it became the hotel's resident band. One of his trademarks was to hold a small Chihuahua dog while he waved his baton with the other arm. He shuttled between New York and Los Angeles for most of the next thirty years, alternating hotel and radio dates with movie appearances in films such as Week-End at the Waldorf (1945) and Neptune's Daughter (1949). In 1940, he recorded the song Perfidia with singer Miguelito Valdés which became a big hit. Cugat followed trends closely, making records for the conga, the mambo, the cha-cha-cha, and the twist when each was in fashion. His first marriage was to Rita Montaner, his second to Carmen Castillo (1929 – 1946), his third to Lorraine Allen (1947 – 28 April 1952), and his fourth to singer Abbe Lane in 1952. He and Lane performed together until their divorce in 1964. He married salsa dancer Charo on 7 August 1966. The two were the first couple to marry in the newly opened Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. Cugat did not lose sleep over artistic compromises: “I would rather play Chiquita Banana and have my swimming pool than play Bach and starve.” Cugat died of heart failure at age 90 in Barcelona in his native Catalonia, Spain.
Track list and 30sec audio provided by
Title | Artist | Year | Type |
---|---|---|---|
The Essential Recordings | Xavier Cugat | 2017 | Compil. |
Seven Classic Albums | Xavier Cugat | 2016 | Compil. |
Vintage | Xavier Cugat | 2011 | Compil. |
Three Great Maestros On Latin | Xavier Cugat, Edmundo Ros, Stanley Black | 2010 | Compil. |
Xavier Cugat | Xavier Cugat | 2007 | Compil. |
Mambo Fever | Xavier Cugat | 2006 | Compil. |
Say "Si Si" | Xavier Cugat | 2004 | Compil. |
Carnival Procession | Xavier Cugat | 2004 | Compil. |
The Original Latin Dance King | Xavier Cugat | 2002 | Compil. |
The Coconut Pudding Vendor | Xavier Cugat | 2001 | Compil. |
The War Years: 1941-1945 | Xavier Cugat | 2001 | Compil. |
Among His Earliest 1932-1935 | Xavier Cugat | 2001 | Compil. |
Best Selection | Xavier Cugat | 2001 | Compil. |
Rumba Rhapsody | Xavier Cugat | 2001 | Compil. |
Cugat's Favorite Rumbas / Mambo At The Waldorf | Xavier Cugat | 2000 | Compil. |
Xavier Cugat With José Luis Moneró 1946 - 1948 | Xavier Cugat With Jose Luis Monero | 2000 | Compil. |
Live From The Waldorf-Astoria 1950-1954 (Radio Broadcasts And Transcription Discs) | Xavier Cugat | 2000 | Compil. |
Live From The Statler-Hilton & Roseland Hotels | Xavier Cugat | 2000 | Compil. |
The Unheard Xavier Cugat | Xavier Cugat | 2000 | Compil. |
The Very Best Of Xavier Cugat | Xavier Cugat | 2000 | Compil. |
Jack Jack Jack 1947-1949 | Xavier Cugat | 2000 | Compil. |
King Of Cuban Rhythm! | Xavier Cugat | 1999 | Compil. |
Cugat On Film | Xavier Cugat | 1999 | Compil. |
Weekend In Havana 1940-1947 | Xavier Cugat | 1999 | Compil. |
Todos Sus Exitos Mas Latinos | Xavier Cugat | 1999 | Compil. |
El Rey Del Mambo (The Gold Collection) | Xavier Cugat | 1998 | Compil. |
Cocktail Hour | Xavier Cugat | 1998 | Compil. |
Cugat's Nugats | Xavier Cugat | 1998 | Compil. |
Xavier Cugat Loves To Tango! | Xavier Cugat | 1998 | Compil. |
My Shawl | Xavier Cugat & Frank Sinatra | 1998 | Compil. |
Viva Cugat! | Xavier Cugat | 1997 | Compil. |
Dancing Party Vol. 5 | Xavier Cugat | 1997 | Compil. |
On The Radio 1935-1942 | Xavier Cugat | 1997 | Compil. |
Cugat & Prima | Xavier Cugat & Louis Prima | 1996 | Compil. |
Congas, Chihuahuas & Rumbas 1940-1945 | Xavier Cugat | 1996 | Compil. |
El Americano | Xavier Cugat Guest: Abbe Lane | 1995 | Compil. |
16 Most Requested Songs | Xavier Cugat | 1995 | Compil. |
The Early Years 1933–1938 | Xavier Cugat | 1995 | Compil. |
Brazil | Shorty Rogers, Xavier Cugat, Gary McFarland | 1994 | Compil. |
Unheard Transcriptions & Air Shots | Xavier Cugat | 1994 | Compil. |
Bim Bam Bum: 1935-1940 | Xavier Cugat | 1994 | Compil. |
Say Si! Si! | Xavier Cugat | 1994 | Compil. |
Xavier Cugat With Dinah Shore | Xavier Cugat With Dinah Shore | 1993 | Compil. |
El Negro Zumbon | Xavier Cugat, Abbe Lane - Tito Puente | 1992 | Compil. |
Xavier Cugat Et Son Grand Orchestre | Xavier Cugat | 1992 | Compil. |
Latin Music - Volume 1 | Perez Prado, Xavier Cugat, The Clebanoff Strings | 1992 | Compil. |
Xavier Cugat | Xavier Cugat, Perez Prado | 1992 | Compil. |
Grandes Éxitos | Xavier Cugat | 1990 | Compil. |
"Besame Mucho" | Xavier Cugat | 1990 | Compil. |
Ritm'O - Rythmes Latins | Xavier Cugat | 1989 | Compil. |
Ritm'O Tropical | Los Chocolates, Chakachas, Xavier Cugat | 1988 | Compil. |
Su Música, Su Vida | Xavier Cugat | 1988 | Compil. |
Cugat Desde El Ritz | Xavier Cugat | 1988 | Album |
Cugat 87 | Xavier Cugat | 1986 | Album |
Rythmes Tropicaux | Xavier Cugat | 1983 | Compil. |
Con: Miguelito Valdez | Xavier Cugat With Miguelito Valdes | 1983 | Compil. |
The Greatest Recordings Of The Big Band Era | Count Basie / Charlie Spivak / Xavier Cugat | 1981 | Compil. |
The Best Of Xavier Cugat | Xavier Cugat | 1980 | Compil. |
Custom Deluxe | Xavier Cugat | 1980 | Compil. |
The Pick Of Xavier Cugat | Xavier Cugat | 1979 | Album |
The Latin Sound Of Xavier Cugat Perez Prado Tito Puente | Xavier Cugat, Perez Prado, Tito Puente | 1978 | Compil. |
Xavier Cugat / Abbe Lane | Xavier Cugat, Abbe Lane | 1978 | Compil. |
Dansez Avec Xavier Cugat | Xavier Cugat | 1977 | Compil. |
Spotlight on Blue Barron, Xavier Cugat And Ina Ray Hutton | Blue Barron, Xavier Cugat And Ina Ray Hutton | 1977 | Compil. |
Xavier Cugat | Xavier Cugat | 1976 | Compil. |
16 Latin Favorites | Xavier Cugat | 1976 | Compil. |
Plays 20 Dance Hits | Xavier Cugat | 1976 | Compil. |
Xavier Cugat Vol. 3 | Xavier Cugat | 1976 | Album |
Cugat Grandes Éxitos | Xavier Cugat | 1976 | Compil. |
The Cugat Touch | Xavier Cugat | 1976 | Album |
At His Rarest Of All Performances | Xavier Cugat | 1976 | Album |
The Best Of Xavier Cugat | Xavier Cugat | 1975 | Compil. |
Adios | Xavier Cugat | 1975 | Compil. |
Xavier Cugat E La Sua Orchestra | Xavier Cugat | 1975 | Compil. |
The Sugar's Combo Vol. 2 | Xavier Cugat | 1975 | Album |
Lo Mejor De Xavier Cugat (The Sugar's Combo) | Xavier Cugat | 1975 | Album |
Xavier Cugat | Xavier Cugat | 1974 | Compil. |
Disco De Oro | Xavier Cugat | 1973 | Compil. |
Linodil | Hermanos Carrion, Los Teen Tops, Xavier Cugat, Les Elgart And His Orchestra | 1972 | Single |
Cugat Latin Custom 20 | Xavier Cugat | 1971 | Compil. |
The Best Of Xavier Cugat - Super Custom Deluxe | Xavier Cugat | 1970 | Compil. |
Midnight Roses | Xavier Cugat | 1968 | Album |
X-Cugat | Xavier Cugat | 1967 | Compil. |
Let's Dance Latin | Xavier Cugat | 1965 | Single |
Golden Cugat Encore Vol. 1 | Xavier Cugat | 1965 | Single |
Miami Beach Rumba / Quiereme Mucho | Xavier Cugat | 1965 | Single |
Cugat's Golden Hits | Xavier Cugat | 1965 | Compil. |
Swinging Cha-Cha-Chas | Xavier Cugat | 1964 | Single |
Plays The Music Of Ernesto Lecuona | Xavier Cugat | 1964 | Album |
Unter Karibischer Sonne | Harry Belafonte, Perez Prado Und Xavier Cugat | 1964 | Compil. |
Cugat's Golden Goodies | Xavier Cugat | 1963 | Album |
The Latin Rhythms Of Xavier Cugat | Xavier Cugat | 1960 | Album |
That Latin Beat! | Xavier Cugat | 1959 | Single |
Cucaracha Mambo / Chiu Chiu / Ojos Verdes / Tango Azul | Xavier Cugat | 1959 | Single |
Merengue: by CUGAT | Xavier Cugat | 1955 | Album |
New Look / Cugat's Nuggats | Freddy Martin / Xavier Cugat | 1948 | Single |
The Adventures Of Chiquita The Chihuahua | Gilbert Mack, Xavier Cugat | Single | |
Beguin The Beguin / Brazil (Aquarela Do Brasil) | Cole Porter, Ary Barroso, Bob Russell, Xavier Cugat | Album | |
Orquestras Espetaculares | Xavier Cugat | Compil. | |
Downbeat Program No. 15 | Xavier Cugat | Album | |
The Golden Sound Of Xavier Cugat | Xavier Cugat | Compil. | |
Xavier Cugat's Latin Mood | Xavier Cugat | Compil. |
Xavier Cugat And His Orchestra CU Latin and Jazz |
Xavier Cugat And His Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra US Latin and Jazz |
Xavier Cugat And His Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra And Chorus |
Xavier Cugat's Big, New Swinging Band |
Xavier Cugat's Caribbeans Latin and Jazz |