Israel Kantor

Israel Kantor, also known as Israel Sardinas, Wilfredo Israel Sardinas, and Wilfredo Israel Sardiñas Domínguez, (16 October 1949 – 1 July 2006) was a Cuban-born musician and composer who later lived and worked in the United States. Born 1949 in a town called Alturas de Canasi with the name Wilfredo Israel Sardinas, he grew up in Havana, Cuba. He gained popularity in the 1970s as a sonero, a singer of the Son cubano style of music. Early influences included music by Beny More. He joined with Los Van Van in 1980 and toured globally with them, before leaving the group and moving to the United States in 1983.

Settling in Miami, Florida, he garnered support from Cuban exiles who had moved to Miami, Florida. While in New York City in 1984 he changed his name to Kantor as a reference to cantor, Spanish for singer, at the recommendation of colleague Johnny Pacheco. He recorded albums in the 1980s alongside musicians including: Sal Cuevas, Barry Rogers, Mario Rivera, and Sonny Bravo. His song "Ya Estoy Aquí" reached the number two top spot amongst popular music on Miami radio in 2002. Kantor joined the group Tropicana All-Stars in 2003, a twenty-piece orchestra band which performed tribute music hearkening back to the style of his early influence Beny More. The group's debut performance was on 18 May 2003 at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. While lead vocalist with the group, they received two Grammy Award nominations and two Latin Grammy Award nominations.

Kantor died of cancer in 2006 at his Miami home, survived by his wife. He was featured in the Iván Acosta directed 2005 documentary film Cómo se forma una rumba, which examined the influence of Cuban rumba on Cuban music.

Early life and career in Cuba Kantor was born with the name Wilfredo Israel Sardinas in 1949 in Alturas de Canasi, a locale in the Western region of Cuba. His birthplace is a town situated roughly equidistant from Matanzas and Havana, Cuba. He spent the majority of his early youth in Havana, the capital city of Cuba.

His career in the United States was not as successful as his prior results in Cuba. He was featured as the singer on a 2002 album by Juan Pablo Torres y su Super Son which contained new presentations of their prior songs they had made in Cuba years earlier. His song "Ya Estoy Aquí" reached the number two top spot amongst popular music on Miami radio in 2002. He served as vocalist on the 2003 Orlando Batista produced album Orquesta Sensación, which received praise from Latin Beat Magazine as "a dancer's paradise".

Kantor gained new-found recognition in 2003 with the group Tropicana All-Stars. This was their debut performance, and it received a favorable reception from Latin Beat Magazine: "Lead singer Israel Kantor delivers majestically flora beginning to end". During his time with the Tropicana All-Stars, they received recognition in the form of two Grammy Award nominations and two Latin Grammy Award nominations for their work on albums Tradicion, and Recuerda a Benny Moré.

Death and legacy He died from cancer on 1 July 2006, and left behind his wife. Film during 2001, the documentary examined how differing styles of Cuban music were impacted by the Cuban rumba music and dance form.