Gilberto Miguel Calderón (April 22, 1931 – February 15, 2009), known professionally as Joe Cuba, was an American conga drummer of Puerto Rican descent widely regarded as the “Father of Latin Boogaloo“.

In 1950, when he was 19 years old, he played for Joe Panama and also for a group called La Alfarona X. The group soon disbanded and Calderón enrolled in college to study law. While at college he attended a concert in which Tito Puente performed “Abaniquito”. He went up to Puente and introduced himself as a student and fan, and soon they developed what was to become a lifetime friendship. This event motivated Calderón to organize his own band. In 1954, his agent recommended that he change the band’s name from the José Calderón Sextet to the Joe Cuba Sextet, and the newly named Joe Cuba Sextet made their debut at the Stardust Ballroom.

In 1962, after recording three albums for Mardi Gras Records, Cuba recorded his first album with the Joe Cuba Sextet called Steppin’ Out featuring the hit “To Be With You”, featuring the vocals of Cheo Feliciano and Jimmy Sabater Sr. The band became popular in the New York Latin community. The lyrics to Cuba’s music used a mixture of Spanish and English, becoming an important part of the Nuyorican Movement.

In 1965, the Sextet got their first crossover hit with the Latin and soul fusion of “El Pito (I’ll Never Go Back to Georgia)“. The “I’ll Never Go Back to Georgia” chant was taken from Dizzy Gillespie’s intro to the seminal Afro-Cuban tune “Manteca.” Sabater later revealed that “None of us had ever been to Georgia.”