]] Francesc d'Asís Xavier Cugat Mingall de Bru i Deulofeu (1 January 1900 – 27 October 1990) was a Spanish-Cuban-American bandleader whom many consider to have had more to do with the infusion of Latin music into United States popular music than any other musician. Perez Prado followed in Cugat's footsteps. Cugat was born in Girona, in Catalonia (Spain).http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0191265/ With his family, he immigrated to Cuba when he was five. He trained as a classical violinist and played with the Orchestra of the Teatro Nacional in Havana. On 6 July 1915, Cugat and his family arrived in New York as immigrant passengers on board the S.S. Havana. Entering the world of show business, he played with a band called ?The Gigolos? during the tango craze.http://www.legacyrecordings.com/artists/xaviercugat/index.html Later, he went to work for the Los Angeles Times as a cartoonist. Cugat's caricat