* En anglais uniquement
The traditional rhythms of Cuba's horn-driven bands of the '50s is brought up to date by trumpet player
Jesús Alemañy and his 15-piece band
¡Cubanismo!. The group's 1996 self-titled debut album reached the Top Ten lists of Billboard, Latin Beat and Afropop Worldwide and made
¡Cubanismo! one of the hottest bands to come out of Havana in nearly fifty years. With their subsequent albums,
Malembe in 1997 and Reencarnacion in 1998,
Alemañy and
¡Cubanismo! continued to bring their dance-inspiring mixture of montuno, mambo, pilon and son to the international stage.
Alemañy began studying trumpet and music theory at the Conservatoire Guillermo Tomas in Guanabacoa at the age of thirteen. Two years later, he joined
Sierra Maestra, one of Cuba's top bands specializing in the roots style of salsa known as son. He remained with that group for a decade.
Alemañy, who's lived in London since 1994 and is married to
Lucy Duran, co-producer of albums by
Songhai and
Toumani Diabaté, collaborated often in the early '90s with Cuban born and Paris-based pianist
Alfredo Rodriguez. When a descarga (Cuban for "jam session") featuring
Alemañy,
Rodriguez and session musicians was held in Paris, it sold out four nights running, inspiring record producer
Joe Boyd to record the group in Havana. Thus,
¡Cubanismo! was born. The group featured some of Cuba's most influential musicians including
Carlos del Puerto, a founding member of
Irakere, on bass, percussion great
Tata Güines and
Orlando "Maraca" Valle, the leader of Otra-Vision, on flute. Although initial plans called for one album, the recording proved so successful that
Alemañy and the musicians agreed to continue to work together as
¡Cubanismo!. Their second album,
Malembe was released in 1996 and featured vocalist Jorge Luis Rojas, formerly with
Adalberto Alvarez y Su Son and
Rojitas. For the band's third album, 1998's Reencarnacion,
Rojitas was replaced by
Rolo Martinez, a singing star with
Chappottin y Sus Estrellas in the '50s and with
Ernesto Duarte in the late '50s and early '60s.
Greetings from Havana was released in 2007. ~ Craig Harris