Ángel Peña (musician)
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Ángel "Cucco" Peña (born September 1, 1948) is a
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
, musician, singer, and
record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
.


Early years

Born in Santurce, a district in the Puerto Rican
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
San Juan, Peña and his two siblings became interested in music at an early age. After completing their
primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...
and
secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...
, the Peña brothers attended the
Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico The Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music ( es, Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico) is a public conservatory in San Juan, Puerto Rico.Conservatorio de Musica de Puerto RicoSOBRE EL CONSERVATORIO DE MÚSICA DE PUERTO RICO: Información General d ...
. Following his graduation, Peña joined the Panamericana Orchestra, which played various
musical style Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
s such as
bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...
,
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
,
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
, pop and
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 ...
.music of Puerto Rico
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Musical career

After Peña left the band in 1980, he became a
music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...
, producer,
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
and
arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
for a wide variety of singers and styles, such as
Willie Colón William Anthony Colón Román (born April 28, 1950) is an American salsa musician and social activist. He began his career as a trombonist and also sings, writes, produces and acts. He is also involved in the politics of New York City. Colón ...
,
Olga Tañon Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russia, ...
,
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,
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,
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, Juan Diego Florez,
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Gloria Estefan Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been ...
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and
Lunna Lunna (born June 30, 1960; born María Socorro García de la NocedaGarcia de la Noceda is her paternal surname) is a Puerto Rican singer of popular music and jazz who was the director of the television show ''Objetivo Fama'', the Latin version ...
. Peña believes that music can be seen from three perspectives: that of the artist, the
music company A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...
; and his own. He works with all three to produce the music he believes people want to hear. On June 4, 2021, Ángel "Cucco" Peña was the featured
singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
on Norberto Vélez's
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel titled "Sesiones Desde La Loma Ep. 17".


First digitally produced Puerto Rican album

Peña produced ''Motivos'' ('Motives'), the first digitally produced Puerto Rican
album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
with the participation of
Glenn Monroig Glenn Monroig (born April 22, 1957), is a Puerto Rican composer, guitarist, and singer of various types of music styles, such as salsa, boleros and rumba. He is credited with having recorded the first rap song in Spanish. Biography Early year ...
and
Lunna Lunna (born June 30, 1960; born María Socorro García de la NocedaGarcia de la Noceda is her paternal surname) is a Puerto Rican singer of popular music and jazz who was the director of the television show ''Objetivo Fama'', the Latin version ...
. In 1983, he married Lunna and had three children, Gabriel, Juan and Ángel. They later divorced and tragedy struck when their son died. In addition to music, Peña now also produces
television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
s.


Awards and recognition

* Grammy for best tropical album, Contra la corriente, Marc Anthony (1999). * Latin Grammy for best tropical production, Olga Tañon (2002) * 60 Cuspide Awards * 40 Addy Awards * 20 Awards from the
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
Theater Festival * Agüeybaná de Oro Award (1993) for "Director of the Year"


See also

* List of Puerto Ricans *
Puerto Rican songwriters This is a list of Puerto Rican songwriters. It includes people who were born in Puerto Rico, people who are of Puerto Rican ancestry, and many long-term residents and/or immigrants who have made Puerto Rico their home, and who are recognized for th ...


References


External links


Popular Culture

Boleros by Angel Cucco Peña on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pena, Angel Cuco 1950 births Living people People from Santurce, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican male composers Puerto Rican musicians Puerto Rican multi-instrumentalists Musicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers Latin music composers Latin music record producers