Career
He is most famous for his time with Los Van Van, one of Cuba’s premier dance bands, which he joined in 1974. During the late 1990s, Calvo formed part of the infamous lead singing trio of Los Van Van along with Mayito Rivera and Roberto Hernández. These three singers alternated singing the lead and backing parts on Los Van Van tracks.
Some of the more notable tracks that Calvo sang the lead part on during this period are El Negro Está Cocinando, Mi Chocolate and Louisiana Fruta.
Calvo was also the lead singer on Quebec le den Candela and Sandunguera, two famous Los Van Van tracks from an earlier period. Rather, Calvo’s appeal seems to be his charismatic personality and unique singing style which often included clever word play and expressive rhythmic vocal sounds.
Calvo"s trademark look is a thick black moustache and wide-brimmed white hat. In 2001, Calvo left Los Van Van to pursue his own musical career.
Calvo has since formed his own band called Pedro Calvo y Louisiana Justicia.
So far the band has released three albums which have mostly been made up of remakes of some of the famous songs which Calvo sang with Los Van Van. These albums have received a mixed response from critics and have not received the same acclaim and popularity that the new albums of Los Van Van and Cesar Pedroso (another former Los Van Van musician) have had during this period.
