Joe Acosta (October 31, 1950 - April 6, 2020) was a
salsa
Salsa most often refers to:
* Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments
* Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music
* Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music
Salsa or SALSA may also refer to:
A ...
piano player and one of the pioneers of
Latin music in the
United States in the early 1970s.
Born in
Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Acosta migrated to
New York City in 1953 and settled in
East Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...
, a neighborhood with many salsa musicians.
Acosta started his first band in 1969. During his tenure at MSM he also played with many of the local bands including Johnny Colon's Band (playing both trombone and piano), The TNT Band, The Latinjazzmen, and Joe Bataan.
In the early 1970s, Acosta became more successful and recorded his first LP, ''The Power of Love'', on Ghetto Records. Acosta wrote most of the tunes, including the 21-week Billboard Latin Top 10 single "I Need Her." By the end of the 1970s, Acosta and his band had recorded the LP's ''Asi Soy Yo'' and ''Encore''
and performed in
Puerto Rico,
Spain,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and
Venezuela.
Acosta also enjoyed playing salsa and
Latin jazz on many recordings for SMC-Pro Arte records. He also recorded the Ray Rivera hit "Listen to Louie" for SMC Pro-Arte.
During his musical career, Acosta played and recorded with Joe Quijano, Tony Pabon and La Protesta, Bobby Rodriguez,
Joe Cuba
Joe Cuba (April 22, 1931 – February 15, 2009), was an American conga drummer of Puerto Rican descent widely regarded as the "Father of Latin Boogaloo".
Early years
Joe Cuba (birth name: Gilberto Miguel Calderón) was born in Harlem, New York ...
, Orchestra Flamboyan, Vitin Aviles,
Ismael Rivera, Orchestra Broadway, Yomo Toro and
Mon Rivera
Mon Rivera is the common name given to two distinct Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican musicians (both born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Mayagüez), namely Monserrate Rivera Alers (originally nicknamed Rate, later referred to as "Don Mon", or Mon T ...
. Acosta write and arranged songs for many artists including the Jonas Brothers "Chillin in the Summertime" for Disney's Jonas L.A. TV show in July, 2010.
Acosta lived in
Yonkers, New York, and died on April 6, 2020, after contracting the
COVID-19 virus.
References
External links
Joe Acosta Band Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acosta, Joe
1950 births
2020 deaths
Musicians from Santurce, Puerto Rico
American musicians of Puerto Rican descent
Salsa musicians
People from East Harlem