Bamboleo Biography
Like sweet rum and smooth cigars, Bamboleo is another one of those fine Cuban exports that, once you get a taste of it, one sampling just won't be enough. The 14-member timba group is one hot number, from its music and choreography to its well-dressed singers and musicians. Lazaro Valdes leads the band, and he also plays the piano, arranges, composes, and writes songs. A Havana native, he was enrolled in the Alejandro Garcia Caturla Academy during the 1970s. He established Bamboleo after spending time performing with such artists as Pachito Alonso, Bobby Carcasses, and Hector Tellez. He culled musicians from the cream of the crop, incorporating into his new troupe many who had trained at Havana's National School of the Arts. He added some spark with vocalist Haila Mompie, who in turn recruited vocalist Vannia Borges. Another Havana native, Borges became a music student when she was five years old, and first sang professionally with an all-woman outfit known as D'capo in the early '90s. Four years later, she moved on to Pachito Alonso y su Kini Kini, leaving in 1997 to add her talents to Bamboleo. Guantanamo native Yordamis Megret came to the group in 1998, a year after Mompie left. She started her musical training when she was 10 years old and took up the guitar. Like Borges, she, too, is an alumna of the National School of Arts. Upon graduation, she started singing professionally with Ricacha. Before joining Bamboleo, Megret sang for Jose Luis Cortes' salsa ensemble, PG. Bamboleo first started touring outside of Cuba in 1996, the same year the group debuted with Te Gusto o Te Caigo Bien. The group has performed in major U.S. cities, from Chicago to Miami, and New York to Los Angeles. After the release of Yo No Me Parezco A Nadie and Ya No Hace Falta, the group toured the world, with stops in Europe, the U.S., and Japan, as well as China's Heineken 2000 World Music Festival. Bamboleo also contributed to the Temptations' Grammy-winning Ear-Resistable. In addition, the ensemble has been featured on the MTV program Road Rules, and has worked with artists such as James Brown, Femi Kuti, and George Benson. ~ Linda Seida, All Music Guide
Popular Biographies:
Orchestral manoeuvres in the dark Biography: Featuring the core members Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey, the Liverpudlian synth pop group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark formed in the late '70s. Humphreys and McCluskey began performing...
Brand x Biography: Brand X were a British jazz-rock fusion outfit formed by Genesis drummer Phil Collins and Atomic Rooster guitarist John Goodsall as a side project from their regular groups. Their initial lineup also...
Con funk shun Biography: Con Funk Shun was formed by high-school classmates Michael Cooper and Louis "Tony" McCall, along with Karl Fuller, Paul "Maceo" Harrell, Dennis Johnson, Cedric Martin, and Danny "Sweet Man" Thomas....
Ijahman levi Biography: Ijahman Levi (born: Trevor Sutherland) has been on the cutting edge of Jamaica's music for more than four decades. While his 1985 duet with his second wife, Madge, "I Do," remains his best known...
Sohne mannheims Biography: Despite a lineup that sometimes swelled to as many as 17 members, Von Söhne Mannheims are best known in connection with frontman Xavier Naidoo, widely considered the premier German R&B singer of...
Chicago Biography: According to Billboard chart statistics, Chicago is second only to the Beach Boys as the most successful American rock band of all time, in terms of both albums and singles. Judged by album sales, as...
Bonfire Biography: Bonfire is a German heavy metal group from Ingolstadt, Germany, that began in 1980 under the name Cacumen and became Bonfire in 1985. Personnel has changed over time, with the only permanent founding...
Ascii disko Biography: Ascii Disko is the project of multi-instrumentalist/DJ Kat D.D. Rokk. Formerly of Slown and also a member of Venus Vegas, in Ascii Disko he crafts a mix of rock and electronica inspired...