biography

"This music speaks to you in a natural voice. You don't have that in modern music anywhere else. In Cuba it is there everyday, flowing like a river."
--- Ry Cooder

Juan De Marcos González, a central figure in Cuban music today, has a mission to show the world the wealth, diversity and vitality of Cuban music. His work with the Afro-Cuban All Stars, the Buena Vista Social Club, Ruben González, Ibrahim Ferrer, Sierra Maestra and others has made an extraordinary contribution to raising the profile of Cuban music throughout the world.

As the unsung hero of the Buena Vista Social Club, González takes center stage with his Afro-Cuban All Stars. He formed the group as a multi-generational big band to explore a broader scope than the Buena Vista projects, ambitiously paying tribute to the diversity of Cuban music, marrying the past with the present. It is a band for dancing - combining a variety of contrasting styles including classic son montuno, contemporary timba, swinging big band guajira, Afro-Cuban jazz, danzon, the pure tribal rhythms of abakua, bolero and more.

González was born in Havana in 1954 and grew up urrounded by music (his father was a singer and played with the great Arsenio Rodriguez among others). At university he studied hydraulic engineering and Russian before working as a consultant at the Agronomic Science Institute, gaining his doctorate in 1989. While at university he co-founded the group Sierra Maestra in 1978. Styled as a traditional Cuban nine-piece group (tres, trumpet, bass, percussion and vocals), the dynamic young band's aim was to bring about an appreciation of Cuban son by the youth of the island. The band achieved great success, recording fourteen albums in Cuba, widely touring Africa, Japan and Europe and receiving numerous awards.

In 1994, Sierra Maestra was taken by SASA MUSIC to London-based record label World Circuit Records and the band recorded the album 'Dundunbanza'. For this recording, World Circuit's Nick Gold encouraged the group to expand their line-up to include piano, and a larger trumpet section, in a tribute to the forties and fifties styles of the legendary Cuban musician Arsenio Rodriguez. Having found success and common ground González and Gold looked to develop it further with a big band recording in Havana, featuring the neglected stars of this 'golden age' of Cuban music.

The Afro-Cuban All Stars album was the first to be recorded in the now famous Buena Vista Social Club sessions and González' band provided the springboard for many of the musicians for the success that followed.

Following the album's release González led the Afro-Cuban All Stars on their debut European and U.S. tours and directed the Buena Vista Social Club in concerts in Amsterdam and New York's Carnegie Hall (as seen in the film "Buena Vista Social Club").

Despite the new-found worldwide success of Cuban music, it is the appreciation of the music within Cuba itself that González finds most satisfying: "When you live in an isolated country you always think things are better elsewhere. Because of that the influence of American music has been very strong. People were trying to play American music before they learned Cuban music. We have to use what is good from around the world, but first we have to be conscious of the importance of our own music. A few years ago young Cuban musicians didn't care about real Cuban music. Now there are hundreds of bands playing traditional music. Of course music will change, there will be new dances and styles. But we are going to keep the roots. I am very confident about that."

Having been instrumental in these various projects he has now moved into the limelight himself with his last record with the Afro-Cuban All Stars, the ambitious, forward-looking album 'Distinto,diferente'; "We have to use all the heritage of Cuban music to create a sound of the future," says González. "It's important to have that continuity and to fight for the identity of Cuban music."

González is not a man to stand still, and although he will continue his association with World Circuit, González has founded his own production company/record label, DM Ahora, to continue to open up the wealth of talent in Cuba.