Xavier Cugat (1900-1990) was from the 1920s, one of the leading ambassadors of Latin music. He knew the dance so polished that they were appealing for a white audience. Cugat, the son of Catalan / Cuban migrants lived from the age of fifteen in New York where he learned to play the violin. He proved himself a musical omnivore who just as easily cha-cha-cha, mambo, tango played as easy listening. He
… had a sense of drama and show. He married at least five times and he sometimes wore during performances a chihuahua on his left arm.more