Sal Cuevas
Salvador "Sal" Cuevas was an American electric bass guitarist and upright bassist who was for many years a member of the salsa music group Fania All-Stars, circa, as well as several other top name salsa groups of the time such as Johnny Pacheco, Héctor Lavoe, Willie Colon/Ruben Blades, etc. During this time, he was also one of five bass players in New York City who recorded many of the "Jingles" for T.V. and Radio. For his high school years he attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art.
Sal also enjoyed the title of Musical Director to Willie Colon's orquestra both during Willie's collaborations with famed Panamanian singer/songwriter/actor Rubén Blades, and Willie's solo singing ventures. Sal was born in Manhattan in 1955, and raised in The Bronx, New York City of Puerto Rican parents. He grew up in the tough streets of the South Bronx where at the age of five, his dad began helping him develop his deep love of music, and as a result Sal was able to stay away from the negative influences those streets can bring. Musically speaking, the demographics of the city during the time provided Sal with a tremendous array of musical influences which he absorbed 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; Willie Colón, Rubén Blades, Héctor Lavoe, Ray Barretto, Tito Puente, Machito, Fania All-Stars, Celia Cruz, Larry Harlow, Ismael Miranda, Eddie Palmieri, Cheo Feliciano, Johnny Pacheco, Tito Nieves, Soledad Bravo, Sophy, Fernandito Villalona, Tito Allen, Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz, Papo Lucca, Arturo Sandoval, Billy Idol, Lenny Kravitz, Cissy Houston, Kirsty MacColl, Jon Lucien, The Manhattans, Mongo Santamaria, Angela Bofill, Dave Valentin, Noel Pointer, Airto & Flora Purim, Harry Belafonte, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Gilberto Santarosa, Olga Tañón, Jaci Velaquez, Mandy Moore, José Feliciano, Oscar D'León, Gloria Estefan, Jon Secada, Franco De Vita, Rocio Durcal, Ricardo Montaner, Amaury Gutiérrez, Cristian Castro, David Bisbal, Thalía, La India, Isaac Delgado, Obie Bermúdez, Jimena, Los Ilegales, Los Gaitanes, Gian Marco, Hector 'El Father', Don Omar,
Tego Calderon, Rita Moreno, Alejandro Sanz, IL Volo, Black Eyed Peas, Usher, and the list,, goes on and on with hundreds of other world-famous artist, both Latin and/or American.
The early to mid-1970s was a time when the electric bass guitar came of age with the likes of world-famous jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke established the instrument as a solo voice. Cuevas was an innovator of this style in Latin music, as on Ray Barreto album "Ricanstruction" where he takes solos alongside the horns. 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 authenticity within Latin music, he managed to fuse all those other "worlds" into his bass playing technique resulting in the creation of an innovative style. On some recordings for instance, he would play very intricate horn section lines or phrases on the bass in unison with the horns, which until then was virtually unheard of within the genre, as was his funky bass slapping and string snapping technique which today has become a norm for bassist within Latin "salsa" music thanks to Sal. He also incorporated the technique of "tapping" in his Latin bass playing.
On the electric upright bass, Sal incorporated techniques which also were completely unheard of in Latin music such as slides,, and utilizing the very upper ranges of the instrument,. Internet searches on Sal are sometimes incomplete, but he is currently living in South Florida where he stays very active doing recordings, songwriting, and productions. Sal plays a couple of other instruments as well.
Cuevas died May 9, 2017 in Miami, Florida.
