Canadian Press - Pioneer of the Latin jazz 'Pachuco' sound dead at 81

August 3, 2004

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) - Don Tosti, a musician and composer who blended elements of jazz, boogie and blues to create the Latin 'Pachuco' sound of the 1940s-era Zoot Suit culture, has died. He was 81.

Tosti died Monday in his home. Doctors diagnosed him with advanced prostate cancer in May, according to his sister, Marylin Martinez Wood. Tosti began playing music as a boy and forged a career spanning several decades and styles, from classical to jazz to rhythm and blues. He was best remembered for his Pachuco-style compositions like the hit Pachuco Boogie. Recorded in 1948, it was the first million-selling Latin song.