Sal Cuevas

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Electric bass guitarist and upright bassist Salvador "Sal" Cuevas was for many years, a member of the legendary salsa music group Fania All-Stars, circa (1978-1985), as well as several other top name salsa groups of the time. Sal also enjoyed the title of Musical Director to Willie Colon's orquestra both during Willie's collaborations with famed Panamanian singer/songwriter/actor Ruben Blades, and Willie's solo singing ventures. Sal was born and raised in New York City (Manhattan) to Puerto Rican parents, and grew up in the tough streets of the South Bronx. Musically speaking, the demographics of the 'City' during that time, provided Sal with a tremendous array of musical influences, which he wisely obsorbed and later incorporated into his bass playing technique and style. Always in demand, he has recorded and performed with a long list of the giants of salsa, jazz, pop, rock and beyond, including; Ray Barretto, Tito Puente, Machito, Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Ruben Blades, Hector Lavoe, Larry Harlow, Ismael Miranda, Eddie Palmieri, Cheo Feliciano, Tito Nieves, Soledad Bravo, Sophy, Fernandito Villalona, Arturo Sandoval, Billy Idol, Lenny Kravitz, Kirsty MacColl, Jon Lucien, Angela Bofill, Dave Valentin, Noel Pointer, Airto & Flora Purim, Harry Belafonte, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Gilberto Santarosa, Olga Tañon, Jaci Velaquez, Mandy Moore, Jose Feliciano, Oscar D'Leon, Gloria Estefan, Jon Secada, Franco DeVita, Ricardo Montaner, Amaury Gutierrez, Christian Castro, David Bisbal, Thalia, La India, Obie Bermudez, Los Ilegales, Gian Marco, Hector 'El Father', Don Omar, and the list, (much too long to list here), goes on and on with hundreds of other world famous artist, both latin and/or american. The early to mid 1970's was a time when the electric bass guitar came of age with the likes of world famous jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke, and in the latin music world, Sal kept pace with those guys by taking the instrument to the "next level" within latin music. Just listen to him seduce you with tradition while also giving the horn players a run for their money on the Ray Barreto album "Ricanstruction". On a couple of tracks, he also uses sound modifying effects and foot pedals to add a different "color" to the sound of the bass. Sal is credited as being the innovator of latin music bass playing when he first incorporated never before heard, nor utilized, Funk/Jazz/R&B/Rock styles and techniques on the instrument. While maintaining the traditional flavor and concepts of authencity within latin music, he managed to fuse all those other "worlds" into his bass playing technique, resulting in the creation of a completely unique style. On some recordings, he would include playing very intricate horn section lines or phrases on the bass, in unison with the horn section, which until then, was virtually unheard of within the genre, as was his funky bass slapping, and string snapping technique which has today become a norm for bassist within latin salsa music thanks to Sal. Internet searches on Sal are sometimes incomplete, but he is currently living in South Florida where he works with the Hialeah Gardens Police Department. Yet he stays very active doing recordings, songwriting, and productions. Sal plays a couple of other instruments as well.

An outstanding example of his playing is on Arturo Sandoval's Danzon recording, a brilliant rethinking of Dizzy Gillespie's "Groovin' High".