Early years
Maisonave was born on June 30, 1930 inMilitary duty
In 1951, during theMusic promotion and talent management
Upon his return to New York, Maisonave studied at the Delhente Institute of Technology and graduated in 1957 with a degree in Musicology. Immediately thereafter he began organizing Salsa music, Salsa music concerts in ''Las Villas'', a vacation resort area in Newburgh (town), New York, Newburgh and Plattekill, New York. He also organized concerts on Hudson River boats to Bear Mountain State Park, Bear Mountain, and night cruises called "Moonlight on the Hudson." Maisonave also organized concerts in Zaire during the 1974 boxing match known as The Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, a concert in Honolulu with Celia Cruz, and concerts in London, Buenos Aires, and nearly every country in South America. During his sixty-year career, from 1954 through 2014, Maisonave organized over 7,000 concerts on five continents. However, it all started with those early bus trips to ''Las Villas,'' where people could dance to their favorite Salsa stars in a friendly and congenial setting. According to Maisonave, "for $10 you got the bus trip, ''arroz con gandules,'' pork, ice cream and dancing!" Maisonave also managed and/or promoted the musical careers of Héctor Lavoe, Celia Cruz, La Lupe, El Gran Combo, Cortijo y su Combo, Tito Rodriguez, La India, Joe Cuba, Willie Colón, Ismael Rivera, Sonora Ponceña, and dozens of others. Maisonave's management of Hector's Lavoe's musical career yielded several classic Salsa albums including ''El Sabio'' (1980), ''Qué Sentimiento'' (1981), ''Vigilante'' (1983), ''Reventó'' (1985) and ''Strikes Back'' (1987).Casa Blanca Club
In the late 1970s Maisonave was also a dance club promoter in New York City and worked for Robert Tirado who was the owner of the famous Casablanca nightclub. Casablanca was the home for many famous latin entertainers who performed throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Casablanca ''was located on'' 1674 Broadway, which is also the site of the old Birdland (jazz club), Birdland club. With a music format that included popular radio DJs and four live bands nightly, Maisonave helped Robert Tirado double the club attendance.Billboard Magazine, October 27, 1979. Retrieved 9/1/14.Recent work
Maisonave continued to be active in the music world. His company - Maisonave Management - lists talent booking, concert promotions, music publishing and copyrighting amongst its many current services. Over the past few years Maisonave has promoted concerts for Grupo Manía, Tito Rojas and José Alberto "El Canario"."Héctor Maisonave: 60 Años en el Negocio de la Musica," ''Mega Latina FM,'' July 1, 2011. Retrieved 9/1/14.Awards and recognition
The following is a partial listing of Maisonave's professional citations and awards over the years: :*Lifetime Achievement Award, Lincoln Center (2010) :*Medal of Honor, Senate of Puerto Rico (2010) :*Philadelphia City Council Proclamation (2012) :*Grand Marshal of the Philadelphia Puerto Rican Day Parade (2013) :*Grand Marshal of the New York City, New York City Three Kings Day Parade (2014) :*Grammy Award (received jointly with ''Grupo Manía'') :*Billboard (magazine), Billboard, ACE Awards, ACE, and ''Lo Nuestro'' awards :*Congressional Gold Medal, as a member of the Borinqueneers Congressional Gold Medal, Borinqueneers (2015) :*The city of West New York, New Jersey officially named the corner of 59th St. and Park Ave, near his long-time residence, as "PV1 Hector Maisonave Way" at a 2018 ceremony and street signage unveiling by Mayor Felix Roque :*Nominated by Margaret Santiago for the Taine Award, Hector Maisonave won the award by the popular vote, the award was presented to him on March 30, 2019 by The Taino Nation Entertainment LLC :*April 11 2019, he received The Key to the City of West New York by Mayor Felix RoqueSee also
*List of Puerto Ricans *Music of Puerto Rico *Salsa music *Boogaloo *Nuyorican MovementReferences
External links