Marti Cuevas

I was born in San Francisco, a great place to grow up – it’s like a mini-New York with people from all over the world – but much more compact! I was a late bloomer in music and started playing saxophone at 27 years of age. In the early 80s I moved to Madrid, Spain where both of my two kids were born. I was a total beginner when I arrived in Europe and I learned to play on my own. I eventually developed some skills to the point where I played with local groups throughout Spain and in jazz festivals all over Europe. In the mid 80s I moved back to California and relocated to New York in 1989.As a single parent I was driven by necessity to seek extra-musical venues to support my kids. By luck, I ended up in the music business, first working with music attorney William Krasilovsky and eventually moving to a full time position at J & N Records, which at the time was a tiny one-horse record label specializing in Hispanic music. Currently they are one of the largest, must respected indies in the U.S with an immense catalogue of tropical music.When J & N relocated to Miami and closed the New York main office, I refused to go with them, not wanting to leave New York, As a result, I went 100% freelance. I continue to work for J & N as consultant (and loyal friend), but I am now business affairs and general administrator for Premium Latin Music, Inc., best known for its hit artist Aventura – a bachata-based group that fused the folkloric style with hip hop and R & B.The music I have up on Myspace is archaic to say the least – really due to a hiatus in producing for myself during the many years while I was obliged to seek economic development to give my kids the opportunities they deserve. However, I never stopped practicing and playing, though for many years I played strictly salsa and merengue because these gigs were really fun and also brought in the dough!“Batimco” and “Martin’s Guajira” are my compositions and arrangements and the artist is BATIMCO, a group that was born in San Francisco. Together with myself, the co-leaders were brilliant alto saxophonist/composer/arranger, Jorge Sylvester and percussionist extraordinaire, David Frazier (David is still out in Cali). This recording dates back to 1988 and was released by J & N Records in New York in 1994.I promise to get some current stuff up because a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since back then!!