The Lebrón Brothers are a musical family born in Puerto Rico and raised in Brooklyn, New York. The brothers are Pablo, José, Ángel, Carlos and Frank. They provide the vocals and rhythm section of the band. Members of the original band were Gabe Gil - alto sax, Tito Ocasio - timbales, Héctor Lebrón - congas, Eddie DeCupe - trumpet, Elliot Rivera - vocals, Félix Rivera - trumpet. Frankie Lebrón later replaced Frankie Rodríguez who replaced his cousin Héctor Lebrón on congas.

Biography

The brothers were born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico to Francisco Lebron Feliciano, who was born in Lares, Puerto Rico, and Julia Rosa Sosa, born in Aguada, Puerto Rico but were raised in Brooklyn, New York.

They grew up in a musical environment. The eldest, Pablo, was part of a trio that went by the name of "Las Tres Monedas." Their sister María sang on radio shows in Puerto Rico before the family relocated to the mainland United States. The younger brothers formed their own rhythm and blues band at early ages. They performed in talent shows in Brooklyn.

In 1966, they heard something that interested them over the radio. It was the "Boogaloo". The boogaloo was a mix of Latin rhythms with English lyrics. They were especially influenced by "The Joe Cuba Sextette" - a song called "To Be With You" in particular. José gave up playing guitar and began playing piano. Ángel went from bass guitar to an upright bass. Carlos went from guitar to bongos and cowbell.

Early in 1967, José called Cotique Records, spoke to George Goldner and asked for an audition. The audition was set for the following week. George was impressed with their audition, but there was one problem — they had no original songs. George Goldner said he would return in one week and asked them to have some original songs ready that he could listen to. The brothers got together to see what could be done. Even though José had never composed a song before, he was elected to do the writing. In that one week, he managed to write eight songs. Pablo was asked by his brothers to do one song with them, and he decided to leave his own band “La Sonora Arecibena” and join his brothers. They recorded one week later. The Lebron Brothers' first album, "Psychedelic Goes Latin," was a huge success, and the band would end up recording 16 albums for the Cotique label.

The Lebron Brothers brought their own style to the Latin genre, one that blended Motown soul and Latin rhythms. Their choruses sounded more like soul group choruses.

In 1970, Jose Lebron composed '"Salsa y Control," a song that is credited with helping to give a broad category of Latin music the name "salsa." Up until then the mambo, son montuno, guaracha, guaguancó, cha cha cha, etc. had no genre. "Salsa Y Control" helped give this music the name that is now known and acknowledged worldwide. While this may sound good for salsa, it is not completely correct, the first group to use the name salsa was Cheo Marquetti y los salseros, a Cuban group in the late 1950s but the term salsa was mainly adopted to represent a new combination of sounds and instruments in the late 1960s largely in connection with Fania and where a term was needed to be able to market the new sounds.

In 1982, Pablo Lebrón suffered a stroke and required the use of a wheelchair. On July 13, 2010, Pablo Lebrón died.

The Lebrón Brothers are still active. They tour the world and in recent years have recorded number one songs such as “Si Me Permite”, “Culebra”, “No Me Celes”, and “Complicados”. The Lebrón Brothers won the 2012 award for best International Salsa Band in Cali, Colombia.

Discography

Psychedelic Goes Latin 1967 Cotique 1008 The Brooklyn Bums 1968 Cotique 1015 I Believe 1969 Cotique 1022 Brother 1970 Cotique 1039 Llegamos (We're Here) 1970 Cotique 1042 Salsa y Control 1970 Cotique 1049 Pablo 1971 Cotique 1054 Picadillo a la Criolla 1971 Cotique 1055 El La Union Esta La Fuerza 1972 Cotique 1068 Asunto de Familia 1973 Cotique 1074 4 + 1 = The Lebron Brothers 1974 Cotique 1078 Lo Mejor De Lebron Brothers (compilation) 1975; CD: 1992 Cotique 1080 Distinto y Diferente 1976 Cotique 1088 10th Anniversary 1977 Cotique 1093 The New Horizon 1978 Cotique 1098 La Ley 1980 Cotique 1103 Hot Stuff 1981 Cotique 1105 Criollo 1982 Cotique 1106 Salsa Lebron 1986 Caiman Records 9022 El Boso 1988 El Abuelo Records EAR-100 Loco Por Ti (Cuidala) 1989 Yengo Records 100; Exclusivo 302 Salsa En El Paraíso Con Los Lebron 1990 Astro Son Records 9000 Super Hits (compilation) 1994 Fania/Cotique 1107 Ahora Te Toca A Ti (with Corrine Lebron) 1995 FM Discos 2642 Super Hits, Vol. 2 (compilation) 1995 Fania/Cotique 1108 Lo Mistico 1996 Fania/Cotique 1109 35th Anniversary 2002 Exclusivo 602 Made in Colombia 2004 Exclusivo 204 40th Anniversary, Vol. 1 2007 Exclusivo 1106 40th Anniversary, Vol. 2 2008 Exclusivo 1108 Historia De La Salsa (compilation) 2009 Fania/Emusica/UMG 773 130 472 Que Haces Aqui 2013 Codiscos Records 10913347

Note: the latest releases of the Lebron Brothers have been released as singles, from the city of Cali, Colombia in this order: "SI ME PERMITE", 2007 --- "VERDADERO GUAGUANCO", 2008 --- "COMPLICADOS", 2009 --- "CULEBRA", 2009 --- "NO ME CELES", 2010 --- "QUE HACES AQUI", 2012 (they were later included on the Que Haces Aqui release).

Members Jose Lebron - Piano, Vocals, Composition, Arrangement and Choir Angel Lebron - Bass, Vocals, Composition, Arrangement Carlos Lebron - Bongo, Percussionist, Bell, Vocals, Composition Frank Lebron - Conga, Percussionist Pablo Lebron - Vocals

References

External links