R.I.P. Joe Cuba, Who Gave Latin Music Its Soul

Hardly a week goes by without the world losing yet another Latin music legend, from Buena Vista Social Club founder Cachaito to his uncle, Cachao. It's easy to grow numb to those losses when they never seem to cease, but the passing of Joe Cuba this weekend is an especially heavy one to bear.

Credited with bridging the gap between Fania and Motown—which he did by pioneering the Latin/R&B fusion known as boogaloo—Cuba represents an entire era of Latin music, particularly the sound emerging from New York in the '60s and '70s. While you don't necessarily hear the Afro-Puerto Rican legend's music blasting from the radio nowadays, you'll forever hear soul melodies mixed with Latin rhythms, or what Cuba himself once referred to as "a bastard sound," thanks to his legacy.

Cuba also famously once said, "You don't go into a rehearsal and say, 'Hey, let's invent a new sound, or dance.' They happen."

Or at least, they do when you're a brilliant artist at work.

WATCH: The Joe Cuba Sextet (featuring Jose Feliciano), "Bang Bang"