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Biography Juan-Carlos Formell
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Born in Havana in 1964, Juan-Carlos is a fourth generation musician. But the restrictions of the government-controlled music industry in his homeland made it difficult for the singer/songwriter/guitarist/bassist to express his new ideas. "While still in my twenties, at a time when most musicians are full of hope, I was resigned to a future of marginalization," Juan-Carlos recalls. In 1993 he fled to the United States, to make his own music, his way. He went to New York where he established a band, and in 1998 he was signed to the world music label Wicklow Records. His years of struggle in exile were vindicated when his debut CD, Songs From A Little Blue House, received a nomination for a Grammy® in 2000. His next release, in 2002, was the critically-acclaimed Las Calles Del Paraiso (EMI Latin). Then, after several years of touring with his band and some major concerts – with Buena Vista Social Club veteran Eliades Ochoa, and world music stars Cesaria Evora, Milton Nascimento and Susana Baca – Juan-Carlos decided to take on the challenge of a solo guitar project. Inspired by a sojourn in New Orleans, Juan-Carlos returned to the Crescent City in May of 2005 to record Cemeteries & Desire, which was released by Narada Records in August 2005. The album features powerful original ballads – songs now haunted by the devastation of the city. His current project, SON RADICAL, is the spontaneous combustion of rock en clave that came out of Los Angeles recording sessions with two other exceptional Cuban musicians – drummer/producer Jimmy Branly (of NG la Banda) and bassist Carlitos del Puerto (of Caravana Cubana). "The son is the root of everything. Working from that base, we have the credentials to break the rules of Cuban music and the clichés of the Latin music establishment. We broke away from Cuba because we couldn't accept the restrictions and censorship — we're a new generation of musicians who have come out of Cuba with something to say, with a mission to expand the definition of what Cuban music is and can be." Channeling the writing of Cuban negrista poet Nicolas Guillen, Cuban patriot Jose Marti, and the African roots of the Caribbean experience, SON RADICAL creates a lyrical, politically-charged new dimension of contemporary Cuban music. Juan-Carlos and SON RADICAL have performed in New York at Jazz Standard, S.O.B.'s, The Living Room, and Zinc Bar; in Miami at Hoy Como Ayer; in Los Angeles at The Lummis Day Festival and at jazz festivals throughout the United States. |
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