Álex Cuba / Alex Cuba

Alex Cuba (born Alexis Puentes in 1974 just outside of Havana) was a multi-styled multi-instrumentalist who got his start as a small child with his father's group, Lost Puentes. After touring and performing with the band Temperamento with Roberto Fonseca, Alex moved to Canada in 1999, and it was there that the creative direction of his music began to move away from the more traditional aspects of the Cuban sound. Alex and his brother Adonis formed the Alex Cuba band shortly thereafter, but soon came to call themselves the Puentes Brothers, and released the album Morumba Cubana in 2000. The album went on to earn the brothers a 2001 Juno Award nomination. Tours for the pair followed, as well as hitting all the festival stops that would have them, but in 2003 the brothers decided to put the project on hiatus to work on solo projects. For Alex, it was a return to the idea of the Alex Cuba band, and he released his debut, Humo De Tabaco in 2005. The album was a critical success, and scored Alex a Juno Award for Best World Music Album in 2006. His follow up, Agua Del Pozo, was released in February of 2007. Again, the talent of Alex Cuba wasn't overlooked, and in 2008 he was once again a nominee for the prestigious Juno Award.