Rich and rhythmic, sparkling and seductive, Felix Baloy's voice marks him as one of Cuba's very finest soneros. These ten magnificent performances showcase a true artist at the peak of his profession, backed by the thrilling arrangements of Juan de Marcos and the peerless Afro Cuban All Stars.

Real Audio samples available. Choose hi-fi if you have a fast connection, or lo-fi otherwise

	Baila mi son	hi-fi
	Baila mi son	lo-fi

£10.95

TUMI100.........5022627-010021

A review of this album can be read on the AfroLatina website at www.afrolatina.com/musrev.htm

Felix Baloy has been singing for more than 40 years which means he has waited a long time to make his first solo album. One of Cuba's outstanding soneros with a unique timbre, the opportunity came about after he met Tumi Music founder Mo Fini in Havana in 1995 when Baloy sang on the label's splendid four CD set Las Leyendas de la Musica Cubana as part of the Cuban All Stars with Orquesta AmÈrica. Other singers on the project included Celina Gonz·lez and Omara Portuondo.

Felix Baloy Valdez Sautiz was born on November 20, 1944 in MayarÌ in eastern Cuba. His family was poor but his grandmother lived close to the legendary Ali Bar in Havana, where the great Beny MorÈ was a regular performer. To jump the fence every night and listen to some of Cuba's greatest performers was an unrivalled musical education for a young boy.

What he heard rubbed off and eventually a friendly uncle recognised the boy's talent and recommended him to a local band leader. By the late fifties he was singing with the group Mi Amparo. But when the American tourists departed following the revolution, there was little work for professional musicians and lean years followed in which Baloy worked on the railways and as a milkman and a shoe repairer. By the mid seventies, cultural isolation had left Cuban music at a low creative ebb. Yet paradoxically it was to prove the turning point in Baloy's career. Soon he was making a dramatic impression singing with Elio RevÈ's group. A band leader with an eye for new talent, RevÈ had a decade earlier discovered Juan Formell, who went on to lead the great Los Van Van and Juan Carlos Alfonso, two figures who helped transform the face of modern Cuban music.

Baloy stayed with RevÈ only a short time for his reputation as one of Cuba's most exciting soneros was growing fast. Before long he had joined Tropicuba, where he sang alongside Ra™l Planas, destined to be a colleague again almost 20 years later in the Afro-Cuban All Stars. But soon he was off again, this time to Santiago de Cuba to sing with Son 14 under musical director Adalberto Alvarez.

By now Baloy was one of Cuba's most in-demand soneros and he was tempted back to rejoin Elio RevÈ y su Charangon, this time as lead singer. By 1983 he had been reunited with Alvarez as the singer with his new orchestra, which swiftly became one of Cuba's leading salsa ensembles. He was to stay almost a decade. In the nineties Baloy became a resident singer at the Ali Bar, an emotional return to the venue where he had first heard Beny MorÈ as a boy. Then when Juan de Marcos Gonz·lez put together the Afro-Cuban All Stars in 1996 with the intention of recapturing the glory of the big band years, Baloy was one of the first names on his list. Juan de Marcos was an obvious choice as producer when it came to recording Baloy's first solo album.

By the late 1970s Cuban music was in the depths of a serious recession. We even had a phrase for it. We called it 'the isolation syndrome.' But gradually the best of our young musicians began to break out of this prison by modelling themselves and their musical styles on the stars of American free jazz.

As they set about reshaping Cuban music,one man's voice stood out. Fèlix Baloy was a young sonero from the town of Mayarí who had moved to Havana, and who was also known as a ñangué in his neighbourhood of San Miguel del Padrón. He was steeped in the great traditions of Cuban son and had trained alongside the great stars of the golden age of the fifties - Chapottín, Raúl Planas, Cuní, Conrado Cepero and others.

With his characteristic rough, rounded voice and outgoing personality, he soon came to prominence among the small group of soneros who, while absorbing the legacies of the 'old school', managed to stamp a contemporary freshness on Cuba's great musical heritage.

So when I had the chance a few years ago to realise my dream of creating a band that spanned different generations to pay tribute to the golden age of Cuban music, I knew that the talent and energy of Baloy were vital to the project. That band was the Afro-Cuban All Stars and its success - to which Baloy has made an inestimable contribution - has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my career. When Mo Fini of Tumi Music suggested Baloy should make his first solo album (after he had sung on more than 20 albums under different musical directors) I didn't have to think twice before eagerly agreeing to participate.

During the time we have worked together, Baloy has shown me not only his unquestionable human qualities, collective spirit and friendship, but also his tremendous charisma and incredible talent, which never fail to stimulate every kind of audience. He is without question one of the great figures of modern Cuban music.

But what you won't find on this album is the explosive and nomadic sonero of old. Instead, this record shows a more mature and reflective Baloy, tempered by time and experience, but still with a voice that is excitingly fresh and sincere.

Joined by his friends and colleagues from the All Stars, Baloy traces a route along the diverse genres that he has cultivated - from the bolero 'cotorresco' of 'Después de esta noche' to the fiery rumba of 'Misericordia, no aguanto!' and from the son arseniesco of 'Mami te gusto' to the fifties cha cha chá of 'Ven a bailar Cha cha chá'. Our role was the happy one of directing the various band members to create a coherent style that is always contemporary without losing it's fundamental Cuban qualities. ‘Baila mi son’ is a diverse and at times daring album and† the first serious attempt to pay homage to one of our greatest soneros. I'm proud to have been involved. Bienvenidos a Cuba!

Juan de Marcos La Habana, June 2000