Julio Cueva (Trinidad, Cuba, 12 April 1897 –Havana, 25 December 1975) was a Cubantrumpeter,composer andband leader. He was an important figure in the spread of Cuban popular music in the 1930s.[1]
Cueva playedcornet in the local children's band at ten, and soon composed a number ofdanzones. In 1916 he became theclarinetist of theSanta Clara municipal band. He joinedArquimedes Pous' theatre company, which toured the island regularly. In 1923 he founded and directed the municipal band ofTrinidad. In 1929 he moved to Havana and played withMoises Simons and also with theHermanos Palau orchestra.
Cueva's big break came whenDon Azpiazú formed a band to tour Europe after the success of thePeanut Vendor. After the band returned, Cueva stayed in Europe for ten years as a trumpeter and band leader. He signed a contract with aParisian nightclub, which promptly renamed itselfLa Cueva. Sublette says that it was in this club that Cueva andEliseo Grenet launched theconga as a salon dance. However, theLecuona Cuban Boys were playing it at the same time.[2]
He was inMadrid when theSpanish Civil War started, and promptly joined theRepublican side. He directed the 4th division's band on the battlefield. When the republicans were defeated, he left for Paris but was intercepted and briefly imprisoned.
Cueva returned to Cuba in 1940 and founded his own band, which became popular and performed on radio CMHI (later Cadena Azul, later stillRHC-Cadena Azul) asOrquesta Montecarlo. This was a top-class outfit with several young members who later became famous, such as trumpeterRemberto Lara, withTito Gómez andCascarita (Orlando Guerra) on vocals.[3] Cueva finally left the band and rejoined the Hermanos Palau orchestra, where he met the young pianist-arrangerRené Hernández.
