Luis Kalaff

Luis Kalaff

Person from Dominican Republic

Genres: latin, merengue

About Luis Kalaff

Luis Kalaff (October 11, 1916-July 2, 2010 was a Dominican singer and guitarist. His father, Juan Kalaf, was of Lebanese origins. His mother was Bernavelina Perez. He joined the band "Los Alegeres Dominicanos" and at some time traveled to the United States. Through a contract with Peer International Corp. he had joined an American record label. Ballroom Dance Magazine described him as being proficient in merengue music. Deborah Pancini Hernández, author of Bachata: A Social History of a Dominican Popular Music, described him as "popular". In 1958 he moved to New York City. Kalaff used boogaloo and merengue as influences in his work. Other artists like Celia Cruz and Julio Iglesias began playing songs written by Kalaff. The Dominican Studies Institute of City University of New York stated that Kalaff "popularized típico merengue in New York during the 1950s". In 2000, Kalaff was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame.

Taken from Wikipedia.org