MIAMI (AP) — A Cuban-born jazz pianist and manager who helped popularize the cha-cha in the U.S. has been buried in Miami.
Family members say Jose Curbelo was buried Monday. He died Friday morning at a hospice in Aventura. He was 95.
Curbelo left Cuba in 1939. He worked with some of the greatest Latin music artists, including percussionist Tito Puente.
Amadito Valdes is a Cuban drummer and member of the Buena Vista Social Club. He says Curbelo was known as "a great defender of Latin bands against abuse by promoters."
Marta Curbelo said her father was a charmer with a big personality. She said he also had plenty of confidence in who he was, and passed that along to her and her brother.
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