Alex Cuba

Name: Alex Cuba
Start: 2024-05-13T19:30:00-07:00
Location: Dimitriou's Jazz Alley

Schedule

Mon May 13 2024 at 07:30 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

Dimitriou's Jazz Alley | Seattle, WA

Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley welcomes the debut of Cuban-Canadian 2x Grammy and Juno Award-winner, singer/songwriter solo, for one night only. Show time Monday at 7:30pm, doors open at 6:00pm.
ARTIST INFO
Alex Cuba is a Grammy/Latin Grammy and Juno winning singer-songwriter/producer and musician, born Alexis Puentes in Artemisa, Cuba. He was immersed in music at a very young age, joining his father’s (guitarist and teacher Valentin Puentes) group of 24 guitarists. Alex went on to study electric and upright bass, touring and recording nationally and internationally. His sound is the unique confluence of tradition and global influences in articulate arrangements that convey emotions through melody and lyric. In 2022 he won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop for Mendo as producer, artist and engineer.
In 1999, Alex moved to Victoria, Canada, where he recorded an album, Morumba Cubana, alongside his twin brother Adonis, as The Puentes Brothers. Alex went on to record his solo debut album Humo De Tobaco in which earned him a Juno award for World Music Album of the Year in 2006. Followed by Agua Del Pozo, in 2007 which also earned him another Juno award for World Music Album of the Year in 2008. From there, Alex released his third album, a self-titled project Alex Cuba in 2009. The album features his first ever English track titled “If You Give Me Love”. In 2010, Alex took home the award for Best New Artist at the 2010 Latin Grammy Awards, where it was also nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Album and was followed by a nomination for Best Latin Pop Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Award in 2011 where Alex took home a BMI Latin Award for his song-writing on Nelly Furtado’s #1 Spanish hit “Manos Al Aire”. In 2012, Alex released his fourth album Ruido En El Sistema, a year which Alex received his second Socan Hagood Hardy Award for outstanding achievement in Jazz and World Music. He also won his second Latin Grammy Award – this time as a songwriter, alongside co- writer Yoel Henriquez received the award for Best Tropical Song for the Milly Quezada’s single, “Toma Mi Vida” featuring Juan Luis Guerra. In 2013, he again brought home a Latin Grammy for the video “Eres Tu” from Ruido En El Sistema, a video produced entirely in his hometown of Smithers.
Alex Cuba’s 5th studio album, Healer won a Latin Grammy for best Singer- songwriter and nominated for a Grammy as best Latin Pop in 2016.
In 2017, Alex completed his 6th album Lo Unico Constante and it was nominated for both a Latin Grammy for Best Singer-Songwriter and Grammy for Best Latin Pop.
In 2019 Alex Cuba embarked on a completely self-produced collection of songs featuring 5 collaborations and the album received a Latin Grammy Nomination and performance at the televised Award Show in Miami November 2020.
2021 saw Alex recording at home and adding recording engineer to his credits as musician, singer-songwriter, producer. From the healing voice of Grammy Award winning Lila Downs on “Mundo Nuevo”, to his colorful collaboration with world-renowned flamenco artist, Antonio Carmona, and commissioning a 13-piece horn band from his native country of Cuba, Alex’s vibrant eighth studio album, Mendo, is filled with international collaborations. The artwork for the album marks another international project, created by an artist in Trinidad and Tobago, Brianna McCarthy, who caught Cuba’s eye when he noticed her work on the cover of a book and was drawn to “her unique interpretation of the African diaspora”. Mendo took home the 2022 Grammy for best Latin Pop Album! It was Alex Cuba’s 4th nomination and first win, a tremendous accomplishment for an independent artist.
His musical evolution for years was all about searching for the simplicity and soul in Cuban music – taking apart the complex arrangements, mixing it with North American influences, adopting the melodic simplicity of pop music, looking to Cuban folk traditions for inspiration – he’s always exploring, always creating something fresh and new, and always, it seems, getting it just right.