Pupi Campo (May 1, 1920, in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Cuba – December 12, 2011, in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, United States) was a Cuban entertainer, dancer and bandleader who spent most of his life in the United States. As a bandleader in the 1940s and 50s, he made recordings for labels such as Seeco and Tico. His band featured percussionist and musical director

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz c ...

and pianist

Joe Loco José Estevez Jr. (March 27, 1921 in New York City - March 7, 1988), professionally known as Joe Loco, was a Latin jazz and Latin pop pianist and arranger of Puerto Rican ancestry. Life Loco, maybe born José Estevez Jr. but officially known as ...

Career

Starting as a dancer to a band at the Eden Concert nightclub, he eventually fronted his own band, which appeared on

Jack Paar Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, author, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of ''The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time'' magazine's obituary of Paar repo ...

's ''

Morning Show Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a lo ...

'' on American television from 1954 to 1956. Later he was dubbed "the rumba maestro" by the ''

New York Daily Mirror The ''New York Daily Mirror'' was an American morning tabloid newspaper first published on June 24, 1924, in New York City by the William Randolph Hearst organization as a contrast to their mainstream broadsheets, the ''Evening Journal'' and ''N ...

''. In 1970 he moved to Las Vegas, where he set up the jazz club "Cleopatra's Barge", inside

Caesar's Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio (resort), Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest ...

. Two future

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...

stars,

and

, played with the Pupi Campo Orchestra in the late 1940s. Tito Puente was the orchestra's musical director for two years. In the 1970s, when

Cachao Israel López Valdés (September 14, 1918 – March 22, 2008), better known as Cachao ( ), was a Cuban double bassist and composer. Cachao is widely known as the co-creator of the mambo and a master of the descarga (improvised jam sessions). T ...

moved to Las Vegas, he played in Pupi Campo's band, among others.

Personal life

Pupi Campo was born Jacinto Campillo to Jacinto and Dolores Trujillo Campillo."Pupi Campo, Cuban Bandleader and 'the Rumba Maestro,' Dies at 91"
December 24, 2011 ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''"Pupi Campo"
at "

Find a Grave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...

" Pupi Campo was married three times: to "Latin bombshell" actress

Diosa Costello Juana de Dios Castrello, better known as Diosa Costello (April 23, 1913 – June 20, 2013), was a Puerto Rican entertainer, performer, producer and club owner,Betty Clooney Betty Clooney (April 12, 1931 – August 5, 1976) was an American singer, TV presenter and pioneer who briefly rose to fame in the 1950s with sister Rosemary Clooney. She led a very brief solo career, with songs like "Kiki" and "You're All I See" ...

(sister of

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", ...

) and to Joette. He was survived by a son,

Carlos Alejandro Campo Carlos Alejandro Campo (born September 5, 1958) is the thirtieth president of Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. Campo had previously been president of Regent University from August 2010 to October 2013. He had also done educational consulting ...

, and three daughters from his marriage to Betty Clooney; also a sister, 11 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Partial discography

* ''Mambo Americana Vol. 1'' (7" EP, unknown date),

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head o ...

, EC 81093 * ''Cuban Rhumbas And Mambos'' (10" album, 1955),

Vogue France The French edition of ''Vogue'' magazine, formerly called ''Vogue Paris'', is a fashion magazine that has been published since 1920. History 1920–54 The French edition of ''Vogue'' was first issued on 15 June 1920, the first editor-in-chief ...

, LD 126 *(with Miguelito Cuba and His Orchestra) ''12 Cha-Chas And Merengues'' (LP, 1956),

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...

, LPH 23 * ''Latin Dance Party – Volume 5'' (LP, 1957), Seeco, SCLP-9084 * ''Cuban Rhumbas and Mambos'' (10" album, year unknown), Seeco SLP 2 * ''Rhumbas and Mambos'' (CD, 1991), Tumbao Cuban Classics, TCD-007

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campo, Pupi Cuban musicians American male musicians Mambo musicians Rhumba musicians American bandleaders Cuban bandleaders American male dancers Cuban male dancers 1920 births 2011 deaths People from Havana Cuban emigrants to the United States