JUAN DE MARCOS AFRO-CUBAN ALL STARS

FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2023 | 7:30 PM

OVERTURE HALL

OVERTURE.ORG: Juan de Marcos Afro-Cuban All Stars http://www.afrocubanallstarsonline.com https://www.youtube.com/dmahora https://www.facebook.com/AfroCubans

The Afro-Cuban All Stars (ACAS) is a unique orchestra devoted to promoting the complete story of Cuban music. With each show, the orchestra exposes Cuba’s rich musical history, interpreting the most of its musical genres. Since their inception, many of the Afro-Cuban All Stars’ musicians have become international super stars, including the brilliant performers Orlando “Cachaito” Lopez, Ibrahim Ferrer, Guillermo González “Rubalcaba” and Manuel “El Guajiro” Mirabal.

The Afro-Cuban All Stars’ genesis was the early 1990s. Back then, Juan de Marcos was the bandleader of the traditional son band Sierra Maestra. He had always dreamed of creating an album celebrating the classic Cuban sound of the ‘50s. So Juan leveraged the success of Sierra Maestra and convinced his record label, World Circuit, to make his dream a reality. He went on to develop the Afro-Cuban All Stars concept. Juan de Marcos sought out many great musicians, who are now revered worldwide, including Ibrahim Ferrer, Omara Portuondo and Ruben González.

In March of 1996, Juan de Marcos & ACAS recorded “A Toda Cuba Le Gusta,” featuring nearly 60 performers. Then, with celebrated artists Compay Segundo and Eliades Ochoa and noted American guitarist Ry Cooder, the unforgettable Buena Vista Social Club CD was recorded.

An added bonus was the miraculous solo album “Introducing Ruben González,” recorded on a minuscule budget in merely two live sessions with simple orchestrations written and conducted at the studio by Juan de Marcos. It was destiny and “Introducing Ruben González” still is one of the most successful albums of the “Buena Vista” sessions.

With more than two decades of tremendous success – including four Grammy nominations, a Grammy Award, several award winning documentaries films and being recipients of many other distinctions, the Afro-Cuban All Stars are the best-known Cuban orchestra since Irakere and Van Van.

With the Afro-Cuban All Stars, Juan de Marcos has developed much more than a musical group; he created an institution. With this formula, Juan stretches his creative wings fusing contemporary, traditional and in essence, the future styles of Cuban music. He fluidly adjusts the orchestra’s line-up of musicians to best reflect the various styles from the past eras featured in their performances. The current line-up of ACAS consists of the finest Cuban musicians, all alumni of Cuba’s greatest bands.

The Afro-Cuban All Stars is a band constantly telling the story of Cuban music to the rest of the world.

Juan de Marcos Afro-Cuban All Stars

Juan de Marcos

Juan de Marcos González, born in the Pueblo Nuevo barrio of Havana to a musical family, is a Cuban producer, composer, bandleader and actor better known for his albums with Sierra Maestra, Afro-Cuban All Stars, the Buenavista Social Club series and the films VIVO, Mambo Man, Buenavista Social Club and Buenavista Social Club: Adios. His father, Marcos González Mauriz (d March 1990), was a vocalist and rumbero who performed with prominent bandleader Arsenio Rodriguez and other well-known orchestras of the forties and fifties. He studied popular and tres guitar at the Ignacio Cervantes Conservatory and with maestros Leopoldina Nunez and Vicente “Guyun” González. He later took courses on orchestral conduction and contemporary harmony at Goldsmith College, London. He has also a major and a PhD in Agricultural Sciences.

Growing up, González was a fan of American and British rock music before rediscovering his Cuban roots and establishing the first young “traditional” Cuban band, Sierra Maestra, in 1976. González’s stated goal was to keep the torch of Cuban folk music alive for a younger generation.

González became a key member of the Buenavista Social Club under contract with Nick Gold of World Circuit Records. And using his knowledge on and contacts in the Cuban music world, he created the required line-up, where many of the musicians were old friends of his dad. When Ry Cooder arrived in Havana for recording, González himself was working an “all stars” album tribute to the golden era greats of Cuban music, the Afro-Cuban All Stars, featuring many of the same musicians who comprise the Buena Vista Social Club. Subsequently, González led this band, the Afro-Cuban All Stars and Ruben González’s ensemble on their first European and American tours, including the concerts at Le Carre (Amsterdam), Mexico’s Auditorio Nacional and Carnegie Hall.

González’s work has been nominated four times for the Grammies and won the first Womex Awards.

He speaks Russian, English and Spanish and has some knowledge of Afro-Cuban syncretic languages.