Salvador "Sal" Cuevas (1955 – April 9, 2017) was an American salsa b*ist known for his *ociation with the Fania All-Stars from 1978 to 1985. Although he also played the upright b*, he was one of the most popular electric b*ists in the New York salsa scene, often playing in a funk style. He was a member of various notable salsa ensembles, including those by Johnny Pacheco, Héctor Lavoe and Willie Colón. During this time, he was also one of five b* players in New York City who recorded many of the "Jingles" for TV and radio; the others were Marcus Miller, Will Lee, Francisco Centeno and Neil Jason.

Sal was born in Manhattan in 1955, and raised in The Bronx, New York City of Puerto Rican parents. He grew up in the streets of the South Bronx, where at the age of five his father began helping him develop his deep love of music. The demographics of the city during the time provided Sal with an array of musical influences which he absorbed and later incorporated into his b* playing technique and style. For his high school years he attended the High School of Music & Art. He performed and recorded with many salsa artists in New York for decades, before moving to Miami in his later years. Sal enjoyed the *le of musical director to Willie Colón's orchestra both during Willie's collaborations with famed Panamanian singer/songwriter/actor Rubén Blades and Willie's solo singing ventures. He played b* on Billy Idol's hit "Eyes Without a Face" from the 1983 album Rebel Yell.

Cuevas died on April 9, 2017, at Miami's Pembroke Pines Memorial Hospital. He had complications from diabetes and in previous days suffered a m*ive stroke and was left in a semicoma.

Style

The early to mid-1970s was a time when the electric b* guitar came of age with the likes of world-famous jazz b*ist Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke established the instrument as a solo voice. Cuevas was an innovator of this style in Latin music, as on Ray Barreto album "Ricanstruction" where he takes solos alongside the horns. On a couple of tracks, he also uses sound modifying effects and foot pedals to add a different "color" to the sound of the b*. Sal is credited as being the innovator of Latin music b* playing when he first incorporated never before heard, nor utilized, Funk/Jazz/R&B/Rock styles and techniques on the instrument.

While maintaining the traditional flavor and concepts of authenticity within Latin music, he managed to fuse all those other "worlds" into his b* playing technique resulting in the creation of an innovative style. On some recordings for instance, he would play very intricate horn section lines or phrases on the b* in unison with the horns, which until then was virtually unheard of within the genre, as was his funky b* slapping and string snapping technique which today has become a norm for b*ist within Latin "salsa" music thanks to Sal. He also incorporated the technique of "tapping" in his Latin b* playing.

On the electric upright b*, Sal incorporated techniques which also (until then) were completely unheard of in Latin music such as slides (glissandi), and utilizing the very upper ranges of the instrument, as heard on "La ceiba y la siguaraya", recorded with Celia Cruz and Sonora Ponceña.

References