Don Azpiazu

Don Azpiazu was until recently a forgotten giant. This was the band whose 1930 "Peanut Vendor" not only became a huge national hit, launching a decade of rumbamania, it was also the first U.S. recording of an authentic national Latin style (in other words, Latin music, not U.S. music to a Latin rhythm, like the '20s tangos). Equally important, Azpiazu's "Peanut Vendor" introduced to the U.S all those Cuban percussion instruments we now take for granted. His second recording, "Green Eyes," was the first example of true crossover with a North American vocalist. More important yet, this was simply a very fine band indeed, by the standards of its own or any other day.