X-Alfonso
Encyclopedia
X-Alfonso is a Cuban hip hop
and afro-rock
musician, who played with Audioslave
in a concert in Havana on May 7, 2005 in "Tribuna Anti-imperialista".
and fusion music
, working with troubadours and putting together my own arrangements and recordings.” X Alfonso started his career with a group called Estado de Animo while he was still at the music school. From early 1990s, when he graduated, he joined the Cuban group Síntesis led by his parents Carlos Alfonso
and Ele Valdès, as singer and composer or co-composer.
“I arrived just as the group’s keyboard player was leaving, so I started off playing keyboards. Then I found myself on percussion and vocals. That’s how I learned to play the instruments, through necessity.”
The group started as a vocal quartet, then turned to symphonic rock before going on to explore a fusion between Afro-Cuban music—Cuban roots—and contemporary music.
X Alfonso explains: “my music has always revolved around roots and exploration. That’s what I’m always trying to convey; I draw on folklore, on Cuba.” X Alfonso made six records with “Síntesis” and has released four records of his own and is now working on releasing his fifth. X Alfonso started his solo career in 1998. His first record “Mundo Real” in 2000 is a mix of jazz and fusion
. The second “X moré” is more hip-hop, based on a blend of Big Band hits from the forties and the fifties. The third “Delirium Tremens
” is more progressive, combining African drums, symphonic orchestra and flamenco
. The fourth, “Civilización
”, pulls together material from the first three records, and the fifth is a new record: “I’m currently working on “Revoluxion” (with an X). “Revoluxion” reflects a different style and another aspect of Cuban folklore, rumba
, drawing on Afro-Cuban culture through a mix of rumba and funk
, which is what I’m into now.”
What interests X Alfonso about Cuba is the people, the people in the streets and the generations of young artists putting their art out there. “I’m basically working with street talent, and I try to show that Havana and Cuba have a whole lot to offer, like every country. It goes far beyond a simple performance.”
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and afro-rock
Afro-rock
Afro rock is is a popular dance music pioneered in the late 1960s and early 1970s by such groups as Monomono, Osibisa and Alhaji K. Frimpong. It is a style of which relies heavily on the use of Western string instruments and guitar effects...
musician, who played with Audioslave
Audioslave
Audioslave was an American rock supergroup that formed in Los Angeles, California in 2001. It consisted of former Soundgarden lead singer/rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell and the former instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine: Tom Morello , Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk...
in a concert in Havana on May 7, 2005 in "Tribuna Anti-imperialista".
Life and career
X Alfonso is 34 years old and has been playing music since he was seven years old, “ When I was around 16 or 17, I started playing jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and fusion music
Fusion Music
Fusion Music is a sub genre of Reggaeton. Calle 13 helped introduce this genre, and are the most famous artists to sing it. It's also known as Alternative Reggaeton. Danny Fornaris is the most famous producer in this sub-genre, known as its Luny Tunes...
, working with troubadours and putting together my own arrangements and recordings.” X Alfonso started his career with a group called Estado de Animo while he was still at the music school. From early 1990s, when he graduated, he joined the Cuban group Síntesis led by his parents Carlos Alfonso
Carlos Alfonso
Carlos A. Alfonso is a former minor league baseball player and manager, as well as a former minor and major league coach...
and Ele Valdès, as singer and composer or co-composer.
“I arrived just as the group’s keyboard player was leaving, so I started off playing keyboards. Then I found myself on percussion and vocals. That’s how I learned to play the instruments, through necessity.”
The group started as a vocal quartet, then turned to symphonic rock before going on to explore a fusion between Afro-Cuban music—Cuban roots—and contemporary music.
X Alfonso explains: “my music has always revolved around roots and exploration. That’s what I’m always trying to convey; I draw on folklore, on Cuba.” X Alfonso made six records with “Síntesis” and has released four records of his own and is now working on releasing his fifth. X Alfonso started his solo career in 1998. His first record “Mundo Real” in 2000 is a mix of jazz and fusion
Fusion (music)
A fusion genre is music that combines two or more styles. For example, rock and roll originally developed as a fusion of blues, gospel and country music. The main characteristics of fusion genres are variations in tempo, rhythm, i a sometimes the use of long musical "journeys" that can be divided...
. The second “X moré” is more hip-hop, based on a blend of Big Band hits from the forties and the fifties. The third “Delirium Tremens
Delirium tremens
Delirium tremens is an acute episode of delirium that is usually caused by withdrawal from alcohol, first described in 1813...
” is more progressive, combining African drums, symphonic orchestra and flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
. The fourth, “Civilización
Civilización
Civilización is the ninth and last album by Argentine rock band Los Piojos, released in 2007.- Track listing :# Manjar [Delicacy]# Pacífico [Pacific]# Civilización [Civilization]# Bicho de ciudad [City bug]...
”, pulls together material from the first three records, and the fifth is a new record: “I’m currently working on “Revoluxion” (with an X). “Revoluxion” reflects a different style and another aspect of Cuban folklore, rumba
Rumba
Rumba is a family of percussive rhythms, song and dance that originated in Cuba as a combination of the musical traditions of Africans brought to Cuba as slaves and Spanish colonizers. The name derives from the Cuban Spanish word rumbo which means "party" or "spree". It is secular, with no...
, drawing on Afro-Cuban culture through a mix of rumba and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, which is what I’m into now.”
Musical Influence
X Alfonso finds that today’s new Cuban generation is made of fusion, like his music, “Cubans today are a mix of Spanish, African, English, French, Chinese... A melting pot that has a lot to offer to the pages of history.” And it’s this culture that X Alfonso tries to show in his music. “The people who come to see me are rappers, rockers, salseros, young, old.... I have a really broad audience because of the range of music I cover. I try to reflect all of this as a musician, drawing on different rhythms, melodies and harmonies. I’m always amazed to find myself exploring one area then something completely different—total opposites—and when I mix the two together it seems totally normal.”What interests X Alfonso about Cuba is the people, the people in the streets and the generations of young artists putting their art out there. “I’m basically working with street talent, and I try to show that Havana and Cuba have a whole lot to offer, like every country. It goes far beyond a simple performance.”
Discography
- Mundo Real (2000)
- X Moré (2001)
- Delirium TremensDelirium Tremens (album)-Personnel:Sulfur*Michele Amar – vocals, musical saw, sampler, programming, keyboards , production*Tony Corsano – drums, percussion*Fiona Doherty – bass guitar*Nick Heathen – piano, sampler, recording*Dan Joeright – drums...
(2002) - Civilización (2005)
- Revoluxion (2007)
- Reverse (2011)
External links
- http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/artists/artist_page.php?id=815
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1309263/
- http://www.stageplanet.net
- http://www.havana-cultura.com/html/en/cuban-music/x-alfonso/afro-cuban-music.html