Rhythms of Race: Cuban Musicians and the Making of Latino New York City and Miami, 1940-1960

322 Pages·2015·3.51 MB·English

by  Christina D. Abreu

Rhythms of Race
envisioning cuba
Louis A. Pérez Jr., editor
Envisioning Cuba publishes outstanding, innovative works in Cuban studies, drawn from
diverse subjects and disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, from the colonial
period through the post– Cold War era. Featuring innovative scholarship engaged with theo-
retical approaches and interpretive frameworks informed by social, cultural, and intellectual
perspectives, the series highlights the exploration of historical and cultural circumstances
and conditions related to the development of Cuban self- defi nition and national identity.
Rhythms
of Race
Cuban Musicians and the Making of
Latino New York City and Miami, 1940– 1960
christina d. abreu
The University of North Carolina Press / Chapel Hill
© 2015 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Set in Miller by Westchester Publishing Ser vices
Manufactured in the United States of America
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council on Library Resources.
The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of
the Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Cover illustration: La Musica, painting by Dania Sierra, 2007.
www.sierrafi neart.com. Used by permission of the artist.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Abreu, Christina D., author.
Rhythms of race : Cuban musicians and the making of Latino New York City and
Miami, 1940-1960 / Christina D. Abreu.—1st edition.
pages cm. — (Envisioning Cuba)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4696-2084-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-4696-2085-5 (ebook)
1. Music—Cuba—History and criticism. 2. Cuban Americans—New York (State)—
New York—Music—History and criticism. 3. Cuban Americans—Florida—
Miami—Music—History and criticism. I. Title.
ML480.A27 2015
780.89'68729107471—dc23
2014034895
For my parents,
Rosendo and Teresa Abreu,
for their unconditional love
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgments, xi
Introduction, 1
1 / Race and the Roots/Routes Traced by Latin Musicians, 20
2 / Cuban Musicians and New York City’s Cuban Social Clubs, 56
3 / A Place for Nation in the Diaspora, 82
4 / La Prensa’s Musical Popularity Contests and
Fund- Raising Festivals, 110
5 / Real and Imagined Repre sen ta tions of (Afro-)Cubanness
and Latinness, 141
6 / Cubans in Miami’s Pan- American Paradise, 184
Conclusion, 219
Notes, 227
Bibliography, 269
Index, 289
This page intentionally left blank
Illustrations
Mario Bauzá, Marco Rizo, and Dizzy Gillespie, 42
Members of El Club Cubano Inter- Americano, ca. 1960, 64
Young girls performing at a Cuban cultural pre sen ta tion, 86
Desi Arnaz at the La Conga nightclub with Errol Flynn and
Patricia Byrnes, 150
Miguelito Valdés and Rolando Laserie, 157
Rhumba dancers at the Roney Plaza Hotel, 187