Biography
Hector Maisonave was born on June 30, 1930 in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, where he attended Abraham Lincoln High School. In 1947, his family moved to New York City.
Immediately thereafter he began organizing Salsa music concerts in Las Villas, a vacation resort area in Newburgh and Plattekill, New York. He also organized concerts on Hudson River boats to Bear Mountain, and night cruises called "Moonlight on the Hudson."
Photos: momentosbyluz
Maisonave also organized concerts in Zaire during the 1974 boxing match known as The Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, a concert in Honolulu with Celia Cruz, and concerts in London, Buenos Aires, and nearly every country in Central and South America. During his sixty-year career, from 1954 through 2020, Maisonave organized over 7,000 concerts on five continents.
Starting in the 60s, Maisonave was able to promote dances in all five boroughs of New York. Such as the St. George hotel, Essex House hotel, Marion Manner in Brooklyn, the Village Gate New York, New York and so many others.
However, it all started with those early bus trips to Las Villas, where people could dance to their favorite Salsa stars in a friendly and congenial setting. According to Maisonave, "for $10 you got the bus trip, arroz con gandules, pork, ice cream and dancing!"
Maisonave also managed and/or promoted the musical careers of Héctor Lavoe, Celia Cruz, La Lupe, El Gran Combo, Cortijo y su Combo, Tito Rodriguez, La India, Joe Cuba, Willie Colón, Ismael Rivera, Sonora Ponceña, Jerry Rivera, Raphy Leavitt y la Selecta, Roberto Roena y su Apollo Sound, Luis Enrique, Grupo Mania, Frankie Negron, Cita Rodriquez, Elvis Bonilla, Gilberto Santa Rosa and many others.
Maisonave's management of Hector's Lavoe's musical career yielded several classic Salsa albums including El Sabio (1980), Qué Sentimiento (1981), Vigilante (1983), Reventó (1985) and Strikes Back (1987)
In 2010, Hector Masionave “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Lincoln Center of New York, a distinction for his years in music production and management.
On that occasion, Diana Stomsvik, director of International Concert, the non-profit institution that presented Maisonave with the award, said that he was chosen because of the great help he has given to so many artists and his efforts to create a market for Latin music in the United States. “The Latin music industry, and salsa in particular, owes him a lot,” she said.
In 2018, The city of West New York, New Jersey officially named the corner of 59th St. and Park Ave, near his long-time residence, as "PV1 Hector Maisonave Way"
El Maestro
La leyenda, El cual empezó todo
Accomplishment & Recognitions
● Flag flown over The United States of America Capitol in honor of Hector Maisonave Borinqueneers 65th Infantry signed by U.S. Senator Robert Menendez with an accompanying resolution.
● Congressional Medal, awarded to 65th Infantry Borinqueneers (2014)
● Lifetime Achievement Award, Lincoln Center (2010)
● The Senate Legislature of Puerto Rico, presented a resolution in recognition of his work.
*New York City Council Proclamation honoring his life work.*
● Philadelphia City Council Proclamation (2012)
● Grand Marshal of the Philadelphia Puerto Rican Day Parade (2013) Concilio of Philadelphia-Family Health,Culture honorable supporter of programs and Festival entertainment needs.
● Grand Marshal of the New York City Three Kings Day Parade (2014)
● Grammy Award (received jointly with Grupo Manía and India)
● Billboard, ACE, and Lo Nuestro awards
● The city of West New York, New Jersey officially named the
corner of 59th St. and Park Ave, near his long-time residence, as "PV1 Hector Maisonave Way" at a 2018 ceremony and street signage unveiling by Mayor Felix Roque
● Nominated by Margaret Santiago for the Taine Award, Hector Maisonave won the award by the popular vote, the award was presented to him on March 30, 2019 by The Taino Nation Entertainment LLC
● April 11 2019, he received The Key to the City of West New York by Mayor Felix Roque
● Latin New York Magazine Promoter of the year among many others, founder of the M & M Club.