Today on Mambo, we celebrate the music of Joe Loco, the Puerto Rican pianist who made his name in New York.
Born Joe Estevez in New York City in 1921, he would go on to become particularly renowned for popularising mambo among a wider audience. During his secondary-school years, he received a solid musical education, learning to play both the trombone and the piano. Eventually, however, he settled on the piano as his instrument.
Read on below the playlist.
Playlist
1 Pupi Campo y su Orquesta – Mambonick – 2:44
2 Pupi Campo y su Orquesta – Que Te Parece, Cholito – 2:44
3 Pupi Campo y su Orquesta – Mambo Rhapsody – 2:43
4 Joe Loco – Vereda Tropical – 2:30
5 Joe Loco – Besame Mucho – 2:32
6 Joe Loco – Capullito de Aleli – 2:54
7 Joe Loco – Maria Bonita – 2:43
8 Joe Loco – It’s The Talk of The Town – 2:18
9 Joe Loco – Body and Soul – 2:52
10 Joe Loco – Too Marvelous For Words – 2:45
11 Joe Loco – How High The Moon – 2:36
12 Joe Loco – Blues in The Night – 2:47
13 Joe Loco – In The Still of The Night – 2:51
14 Joe Loco – Bei Mir Bist Du Schön – 2:35
15 Joe Loco – Serenade in Blue – 2:58
16 Joe Loco – Blue Moon – 2:48
17 Joe Loco – Monticello Mambo – 3:02
18 Joe Loco – Jive Mambo – 2:38
19 Joe Loco – Loco Rama – 2:42
20 Joe Loco – Mambo! Mr. Blues – 2:46
After a period of service in the US Army shortly after the Second World War, Loco enrolled at the Juilliard School of Music. He became a versatile musician, making his mark as a pianist, arranger, bandleader and composer.
The peak of his career came in the 1940s and 1950s. Loco was the first to give North American chart hits a Latin rhythmic treatment, inspiring many other Latin artists to follow suit. He reworked songs by composers such as Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer, several of which feature in this programme.
