ABSTRACT
Spanish violinist and big band leader, born in Barcelona. As a youth he moved to the U.S., where he played the violin and worked as a cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times. In 1928 he formed his dance band, and was engaged by the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York in 1933. He began recording in that year, for Victor, with whom he stayed until 1940. He moved to Columbia in October 1940. Cugat’s style was Latin, but he performed typical dance music as well. He was fortunate to have some outstanding vocalists, most notably Dinah Shore. She recorded elegant versions of “When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano” and “The Breeze and I” (Victor 26641; 1940). His band was featured in many motion pictures in 1940s, and he was often on television into the 1970s.
