Alex Cuba (Night 2)
Alex Cuba is a Grammy/Juno winning singer-songwriter/producer/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. Moving to Canada in 1999 he began his career as a singer songwriter based in
Smithers, BC. In 2022, he won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop for Mendó as producer, artist and
engineer, his proudest accomplishment to date as an independent artist based in Smithers, BC,
Canada.
Alex’s first project in Canada in 2000 was 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, 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, and the next
year 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”feat.
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, featured five duets with singer songwriters, four being
Canadian, Ron Sexsmith, David Myles, Alejandra Ribera and Kuba Oms as well as New Yorker
Anya Marina. The album won a Latin Grammy for best Singer-songwriter and was nominated for
a Grammy as best Latin Pop in 2016. Lo Unico Constante, his 6th album, delved deeper into
Alex’s song-writing roots, focusing on nylon string guitar and upright bass. Looking at the “filin”
movement in Cuba of the forties that fused jazz and trova, music that influenced his writing
style to this day. The album 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, this time with Latin American singer songwriters,
recorded in Gibsons BC with John “Beetle” Bailey and mixed at John’s Drive Shed studio in
Ontario. The album received a Latin Grammy Nomination and performance at the televised
Award Show in Miami November 2020.
Alex recorded at home in 2021 and added recording engineer to his credits as musician, singersongwriter,
producer. The album, Mendó took home the 2022 Grammy for best Latin Pop
Album! It was Alex Cuba’s 4th nomination and first win.
2023 marks the first production for Alex Cuba of another artist. Spanish artist, Aarón Miguel’s
album Sé, released May 19th with Alex credited as producer musician and record label. Alex’s
own music, El Swing Que Yo Tengo, made public May 12th, his ninth studio album, with
experimentation, he has creatively drawn from his bass playing teenage years with the opening
title track El Swing Que Yo Tengo. Followed by an upbeat hymn to reconciliation, "No Puede
Ser", alongside a fabulously daring version of the legendary Cuban song "Pedacito de Mi Vida"
and the musically extravagant and social message of "La Bestia". Alex then leaves us with the
desire to love continuously on the ballad "Quiero Quedarme" while "Son Para Tu Boca" radiates
the colour and flavour of the electronic cha-cha-cha, leading to the last song and journey to his
Caribbean roots embracing mother Africa in a musical party "Agüita de Coco" the only duet on
the album featuring Rwandan singer-songwriter Butera Knowless.
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.
Purchase Tickets
Get Tickets