¡Cubanismo!

latin

The traditional rhythms of Cuba's horn-driven bands of the 1950s is brought up to date by trumpet player Jesús Alemañy and his fourteen piece band, ¡Cubanismo!. Born on October 14th, 1962 in Guanabacoa, Havana, Cuba, he began studying music at the age of 13 at the Conservatoire Guillermo Tomas in Guanabacoa, concentrating on trumpet, solfege and music theory. Three years later, he was invited to join the group Sierra Maestra, Cuba’s leading contemporary ensemble specializing in the roots style of salsa known as son, which features the trumpet as solo instrument. He played with the group for over a decade, recording eleven albums and touring worldwide. In 1992, Alemañy decided to leave Cuba to pursue his own music in London, after he fell in love and married Susie, a British woman who now manages him. In December of 1994, he organized a descarga jam session in Paris to honor conga legend Patato Váldez. Alemañy was joined on this project by Alfredo Rodríguez, the great Paris-based Cuban pianist. Hannibal Records head Joe Boyd was there and was so impressed he asked Alemañy to produce a similar session in Havana. The recording sessions at EGREM studios in Havana proved to be a homecoming for these two Cuban expats, who were joined by an all-star orchestra filled with some of the country’s greatest players, including Irakere veterans Orlando Maracas Valle, Miguel Anga Diaz and Carlos Alvarez, master of percussion Tata Güines, Yosvany Terry from Afro-Cuba and Carlit...