Los Angeles, CA. (Top40 Charts/ Canadian Folk
Music Awards) - The Canadian Folk
Music Awards '07 announced the nomination of AlexCuba in the categories for "Best World Solo" and "Best Producer" with Jody Baker for his sophomore album Agua Del Pozo (Caracol Records). With every song on the album having an aberration of a diversity of genres and poetics, Agua Del Pozo is representative of what the world's rhythms sound like when fused with a vintage Gibson electric guitar.
Co-producer Jody Baker and Alexis
Puentes deliver 13 unforgettable passages with elements of folk, rock, trova, pop, soul and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Hosted in bilingual by CBC's Shelagh Rogers and Québec trad step-dancer called musician
Benoit Bourque, The Canadian Folk
Music Awards will be held December 1, 2007 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Québec.
"I am honored to receive this meaningful nomination in the 'Best Solo World' album category. Agua Del Pozo is a distinctive reflection of where I am musically, spiritually and mentally. It is a much evolved project and I am happy where I am, and what Jody Baker (Producer) and I have crafted," says Alexis Puentes. As the founder of AlexCuba Band, Alexis Puentes's career not only spans 25 years, his musical sentiments also speak a universal dialect that spans to many cultures. Since the release of his debut album Humo De Tabaco, The 2006 Juno award winning artist has been impossible categorize anywhere else but the World category.
It is highly anticipated that Agua Del Pozo will hit the stores in the US in the spring of 2008 for the official US release. Alexis's summer '08 tour dates to promote his new album will be announced after negotiations are finalized. Agua Del Pozo is an incredible world offering that is representative of how music is fused from one country to another, how pop and rock intermingle in jazz, and how poetic and intimate music can be regardless of what country you live in. "I love making music that is exciting, moving, and sends a positive message to people," Alexis Puentes says.
AlexCuba has been traveling extensively in 2007 through Canada promoting Agua Del Pozo performing at various engagements to include Salt Spring Island, BC on November 1, Vancouver, BC on November 2, as well as performances with Sophie Milman on December 11 and 12 in Edmonton, Alberta and Calgary, Alberta respectively. Early performance dates have been announced in the US to include Memphis, TN, on January 19 and in Atlanta, GA, on January 24 and 25. Do not miss AlexCuba joining forces with Grammy award nominated Angelique Kidjo on February 23 and 24 in Vancouver and Victoria. These artists are well known for setting a culture spanning experience!
About AlexCuba
AlexCuba is a Cuban-born multi-instrumentalist who now makes his home in Canada.. From his earliest years in Artemisa, a town about 60 km from Havana, he was immersed in music. Alex's first stage appearance on national TV was at the tender age of four, playing claves (a percussion instrument) in a group directed by his music instructor father. Alex went on to study guitar, tres, percussion and bass, practicing eight hours a day during his teens. AlexCuba won a National Song Writing Competition in Cuba when he was only 18, but only recognized his singer/songwriter path upon moving to Canada, after years playing bass in traditional Cuban groups as well as jazz and pop alongside Roberto Fonseca and Javier Zalba (now with the Buena Vista Social Club), recording three albums and touring Europe.
In Canada, he teamed up with his twin brother Adonis to record Morumba Cubana, as The Puentes Brothers, including seven original compositions of Alex and two co-written with Adonis. In 2001, the album received a nomination for a Juno award - as well as winning a West Coast Music Award and a Canadian Independent Music Award. But for Alex something didn't quite fit, and departing from Cuban music norms to follow his own path appears to be paying off - with his debut CD with the Alex Cuba Band, Humo De Tabaco, earning him a Juno award for World Music Album in 2006, with the single "Lo Mismo Que Yo," featuring Ron Sexsmith being play listed on BBC Radio 2.
AlexCuba has performed for festivals in the US and Canada, sharing the stage with Seu George and Jose Gonzalez at Central Park Summer Stage in New York to Feist at the Regina Folk Festival. He has opened for The Blind Boys of Alabama, Cesaria Evora and Ron Sexsmith. Alex later returned to the studio with Producer Jody Baker and recorded his second album. In February 2007, Agua Del Pozo was released in Canada.
