Jimmy Sabater Celebrates 50 years in the business of music - Entrevista

Latin Beat Magazine, Feb, 2002 by Rudy Mangual

My most memorable encounters with the vocal talents of Jimmy Sabater date back to my early adolescent years both in New York City and in Puerto Rico during the late sixties. I can remember numerous house parties when the record player was blasting most of the night to the sounds of Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez, and Cortijo y su Combo. When the mood was meant to be more intimate, however, the music slowed to the rhythm of a romantic bolero. The selection that immediately comes to mind is To Be With You by the Joe Cuba Sextet, featuring the voice of Jimmy Sabater. It was during slow dances with beautiful girls at these house parties that I became a loyal fan of the music of Jimmy Sabater. Other compositions such as Caress Me, Please Don't Forget, I Still Love You and Funny became party favorites for many years.

Born on April 11, 1936 to Néstor Sabater and Teresa González, Jimmy Sabater grew up in the streets of "El Barrio" (Spanish Harlem) in New York City between 112th Street, 5th Avenue and Madison. His love and passion for music as a youngster earned him a position as an original member of the very popular New York City Latin music band, the Joe Cuba Sextet. A vocalist, percussionist and composer, Sabater's composition Alafia, recorded by the Joe Cuba Sextet, became one of the first salsa hits of all times. His ability to sing both in English and Spanish with equal passion and soul earned him the title of "The Velvet Voice" of Latin music.

The following is a telephone interview with Jimmy Sabater on December 8, 2001.

Rudolph Mangual: What's your birth name?

Jimmy Sabater: My name is Jaime Sabater González, but as a child I was called Jimmy.

RM: I understand you are originally from Ponce, Puerto Rico?

JS: Well, yes and no. My whole family is from Ponce, Puerto Rico, but I was actually born in El Barrio, New York City.

RM: How did your musical development begin?

JS: The credit or the first to influence me directly was percussionist Willie Bobo. Willie and I were neighbors, our mothers even worked together for many years. We lived so close to each other that we could shake hands through our windows. Every morning I would wake up to Willie's bongó playing.

RM: How old were you at that time?

JS: Probably 15 going on 16 years old. I first met Willie on the street playing stickball. After a while we started hanging out together listening to Latin music and harmonizing to R&B tunes. It was a daily ritual of playing sports first, listening to music, and making music. Willie would always push me to practice and learn something about music every day. By 16, he got me into the musicians union as well as introduced me to the maestro Tito Puente. I remember it was 1949 and Willie took me to meet Tito Puente for the first time.

RM: So your percussion training started with the tutoring of Willie Bobo?

JS: Yes, first with Willie, may he rest in peace, and subsequently with Willie Rodríguez, Monchito Muñoz, Puppy Pagani, Osvaldo Nieto, and even Tito Puente himself. All these guys were in my neighborhood; it was great to grow up around them and to learn from them.

RM: When did you debut as a musician?

JS: I believe it was around 1954, with a group called Joe Panama. It was a quintet that played Latin music led by a conga player named Joe Panama. After a while, Panama decided to stop playing for a number of reasons and so I invited another neighborhood buddy to take his place and reestablish the band. His name was Sonny Calderón, alias "Joe Cuba." Prior to playing our first gig we named the band the Joe Cuba Sextet by recommendation of Catalino Rolón, (booking agent of the Palladium Ballroom). And that's how the popular Joe Cuba Sextet was born.

RM: During this initial period of the band you only played the timbal?

JS: Correct, I was the timbalero and did some composing and background vocals but it was not until 1962 when vocalist Willie Torres left the band to join the José Curbelo orchestra that I got the opportunity to also start singing in the band. Joe Cuba replaced Willie Torres with a young talented Boricua singer named José "Cheo" Feliciano, recommended by Tito Rodríguez. The only minor problem with Feliciano was the fact that we were getting ready to do several songs with English lyrics and he had a heavy accent when speaking or singing in English. On the other hand, I did not have an accent and was very comfortable singing in English.

In 1962, during the recording session of the tune To Be With You, Cuba selected me to handle the vocal duties of the song. It was my first recording as a singer and a huge hit for the Joe Cuba Sextet. After that we continued to expand our repertoire with several English lyric compositions, all under my supervision and vocals. Cheo Feliciano sang all the Spanish songs and was the vocalist that really brought the band to its highest popularity in my opinion. Together we were an amazing team and I have many great memories of those days.

RM: Were you guys the first to record Latin compositions with English lyrics?