Sonny Bravo (born October 7, 1936), born Elio Osacar, is an

Afro-Cuban jazz Afro-Cuban jazz is the earliest form of Latin jazz. It mixes Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. Afro-Cuban music has deep roots in African ritual and rhythm.{{cite web, Cuba: Son and Afro-Cuban ...

and

Latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, whic ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. He was once a very good

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player with many prospects born in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

, though due to an injury in 1956 he sought out a career in music. It was then he started performing with Many Campo, El Casino de Miami, José Fajardo and many others. He also recorded with

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

Bobby Paunetto Bobby "Vince" Paunetto (June 22, 1944 – August 10, 2010) was a vibraphonist and composer associated to Latin jazz and salsa. He did not start on vibraphone until age 17, but went on to befriend Cal Tjader and study at the Berklee College of Music ...

Discography

With

Tito Nieves Humberto "Tito" Nieves (born June 4, 1959; also known "El Pavarotti de la Salsa") is a Puerto Rican musician who became one of the leading salsa singers of the 1980s and the early 1990s. Born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, and raised in the Unite ...

* ''Felicitaciones'' (Lo Mejor, 1980) * ''Si No Bailan Con Ellos, No Bailan Con Nadie'' (Lo Mejor, 1981) * ''Las Puertas Abiertas'' (Lo Mejor, 1983) With

Johnny Pacheco Juan Pablo Knipping Pacheco (25 March 1935 – 15 February 2021), known as Johnny Pacheco, was a Dominican musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and record producer who in the 1970s became one of the leading exponents of salsa as well in t ...

* ''Llego Melon'' (Vaya, 1977) * ''Los Dos Mosqueteros'' (Vaya, 1977) * ''Pacheco y Fajardo'' (Fania, 1982) With

* ''Mambo Diablo'' (Concord Jazz Picante, 1985) * ''Sensacion'' (Concord Jazz Picante, 1986) * ''Un Poco Loco'' (Concord Jazz Picante, 1987) * ''Salsa Meets Jazz'' (Concord Picante, 1988) * ''Live at Birdland Dancemania '99'' (RMM, 1998) * ''Goza Mi Timbal'' (Concord Picante, 1990) * ''Out of This World'' (Concord Picante, 1991) * ''The Mambo King: 100th LP'' (RMM, 1991) * ''Mambo of the Times'' (Concord Jazz Picante, 1992) * ''Royal T'' (Concord Picante, 1993) * ''Master Timbalero'' (Concord Picante, 1994) * ''Tito's Idea'' (TropiJazz, 1995) * ''Special Delivery'' (Concord Jazz Picante, 1996) * ''Mambo Birdland'' (RMM, 1999) * ''Masterpiece/Obra Maestra'' (Universal, 2000) With

Típica 73 Típica 73 was an American charanga and salsa band in the 1970s and early 1980s, that was formed by musicians from Ray Barretto's band. "Típica" refers to the typical configuration of a Cuban chararanga while "73" refers to the year that group ...

* ''Típica 73'' (Inca, 1972) * ''La Típica 73 Vol 2'' (Inca, 1974) * ''La Candela'' (Inca, 1975) * ''Rumba Caliente'' (Inca, 1976) * ''Pare Cochero/Gandinga'' (Inca, 1976) * ''Rumba Caliente/Guaguanco De Los Violentos'' (Inca, 1976) * ''The Two Sides of 'Típica 73'' (Inca, 1977) * ''Salsa Encendida'' (Inca, 1978) * ''En Cuba Intercambio Cultural'' (Fania, 1979) * ''Charangueando Con La Típica 73'' (Fania, 1980) * ''Típica 73...Into the 80's'' (Fania, 1981) With others *

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

Joe Farrell Joseph Carl Firrantello (December 16, 1937 – January 10, 1986), known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who primarily performed as a saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name o ...

, ''Benson & Farrell'' (CTI, 1976) *

Justo Betancourt Justo Betancourt (born December 6, 1940) is a Cuban singer famous for his interpretation of "Pa' bravo yo". He was born in Matanzas, Cuba, but has lived a significant amount of time in __Betancourt_led_a_group_called_Borincuba_(Conjunto_Borincuba) ...

, ''Leguleya No'' (Fania, 1982) *

Ruben Blades Reuben or Reuven is a Hebrew Bible, Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben (son of Jacob), Reuben was the Reuben (son of Jacob), firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include R� ...

, ''Metiendo Mano!'' (Fania, 1977) *

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

, ''Where You Lay Your Head'' (Verve, 1990) *

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 ...

, ''Cocinando La Salsa'' (Fania, 2008) *

Alfredo de la Fé Alfredo Manuel De La Fé (born February 6, 1954) is a Cuban-born and New York-based violinist who lived in Colombia for more than 16 years and is responsible for transforming the violin into an important sound of Salsa and Latin music. The first ...

, ''Para Africa Con Amor'' (Sacodis, 1979) * Alfredo de la Fé, ''Charanga Caliente'' (Envidia, 2003) *

Dimension Latina In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus, a line has a dimension of one (1D) because only one coordin ...

, ''Combinacion Latina No. 4'' (Velvet, 1979) * Dimension Latina, ''Tremenda Dimension!'' (Eco, 1981) * Jose Fajardo, ''El Talento Total'' (Coco, 1977) *

Terry Gibbs Terry Gibbs (born Julius Gubenko; October 13, 1924) is an American jazz vibraphonist and band leader. He has performed or recorded with Tommy Dorsey, Chubby Jackson,Theroux, Gary"Gibbs, Terry".''Grove Music Online''. Oxford University Press. Re ...

, ''The Latin Connection'' (Contemporary, 1986) *

La Lupe Lupe Victoria Yolí Raymond (23 December 1936 – 29 February 1992), better known as La Lupe, was a Cuban singer of boleros, guarachas and Latin soul, known for her energetic, sometimes controversial performances. Following the release of her ...

, ''En Algo Nuevo'' (Tico, 1980) *

Mongo Santamaria Mongo may refer to: Geography Africa * Mongo, Chad, a Sahel city * Apostolic Vicariate of Mongo (Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction) * Mongo, Sierra Leone, a chiefdom * Mongo River (Little Scarces River), Guinea and Sierra Leone, a tributa ...

, ''Ubane'' (Vaya, 1976) *

Orquesta Broadway Orquesta Broadway was an American mid-1960s/late 1980s New York-based salsa band. They issued almost 20 albums between 1964 and 1987. Orquesta Broadway and Típica 73 were two popular New York salsa bands that played in the ''charanga'' format.C ...

, ''Paraiso'' (Coco, 1981) *

Louie Ramirez Louie Ramirez (February 24, 1938 – June 7, 1993) was an American boogaloo, salsa and latin jazz percussionist, vibraphonist, band leader and composer. He co-wrote with Johnny Pacheco the 1961 hit "El Güiro De Macorina". He has been called "the Q ...

, ''Louie Ramirez Y Sus Amigos'' (Cotique, 1978) * Louie Ramirez, ''Salsero'' (Cotique, 1980) * Hector Ramos, ''Para Todo El Mundo 7th'' (Galaxy, 1983) *

Johnny Rodriguez Juan Raoul Davis "Johnny" Rodriguez (born December 10, 1951) is an American country music singer. He is a Tejano and Texas country music singer, infusing his music with Latin sounds, and even singing verses of songs in Spanish. In the 1970s and ...

, ''El Encuentro'' (Lo Mejor, 1982) *

Jimmy Sabater Jimmy Sabater (April 11, 1936 – February 8, 2012) was an American musician of Puerto Rican ancestry. A three-time winner of the ACE Awards, he was a singer and timbales player. He gained international fame thanks to his work with the Joe Cu ...

, ''Solo'' (Tico, 1969) * Jimmy Sabater, ''Gusto'' (Fania, 1980) * Daniel Santos, ''Daniel Santos Con El Conjunto Clasico'' (Velvet, 1985) *

Janis Siegel Janis Siegel (born July 23, 1952) is an American jazz singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer. Musical career In 1965, Siegel made her recording debut with a group called Young Generation on Red Bird Records. Af ...

, ''Experiment in White'' (Wounded Bird, 2002) *

Los Tres Los Tres also known as The Tr3s or The 3, is a Chilean rock band. The band was formed in 1987 in Concepción by Álvaro Henríquez, Roberto Lindl, Francisco Molina and later Ángel Parra Jr. joined. They are one of the most influential rock ...

, ''Los Tres'' (Polydor, 1983)

References

Afro-Cuban jazz pianists Latin jazz pianists 1936 births Living people 21st-century pianists {{jazz-pianist-stub