Musician at the forefront of Cuban evolution

"Alberto Alberto a tireless ambassador of timba on the city's thriving Latin scene.
When Alberto Alberto sings "de Toronto soy" (I am from Toronto), he is referring to far more than a mailing address.
For the 36-year-old Cuban ex-pat, the city is all about artistic inspiration that has taken him far beyond the traditional music of his native country.
Since coming to Canada in 1999, the gregarious, energetic singer/composer/arranger has been a tireless ambassador of timba, the genre-crossing evolution of son that is very much the music of the times in Cuba.
Although there are only about 2,000 ex-pat Cubans in Toronto, their influence on the city's Latin music scene has been disproportionately large.
"In the last five years, there have been a lot of new Cuban arrivals, most of them of a very high professional quality," says Alberto. The positive cycle keeps feeding itself, attracting even more new talents.
That has only helped musicians like Alberto propagate the aggressively dance-friendly rhythms of timba, placing more importance on rhythm than salsa, which tips the scale toward melody.
The singer's first big Toronto project was cover band Quimica Perfecta (Perfect Chemistry). More recently, he has been working locally as Alberto Alberto y su Orquesta, which performs the bandleader's own creations.
"Now, timba has a community (in Toronto), thanks to what I do," says Alberto. "I've been pushing very, very hard."
They're putting on a show at Lula Lounge Saturday night. Much of the music is bound to come from the band's year-old album, Traigo de todo (I Bring it All), which includes Alberto's dance-fired ode to his adopted city and the proud refrain, "de Toronto soy."
For Alberto, the road from Cuba to Toronto leads in the other direction, too. "The bandleaders there keep inviting me to come play with them," he says, laughing.
Alberto toured the U.S. in 2006 with Cuban bandleader Maraca. He discovered that decades of severed relations with Cuba helped build up an almost insatiable thirst for new music among lovers of Latin styles.
"They want to see what's going on," says the musician. "They want timba."
He also discovered a yawning gap between advocates of timba and traditional salseros in big cities like Los Angeles and New York. "It's more of a division between communities" rather than a fight over musical tastes, Alberto observes.
One of the advantages of Toronto is such deep divisions don't exist.
Another notable absence in Toronto is Cuban politics. "One of the reasons I'm staying in Canada this winter is I don't want to have anything to do with politics," says Alberto. In this city, the musicians are all about music. "We don't even touch politics," he adds with evident satisfaction.
Alberto began singing at age 5, earned himself a prodigy's profile through national talent shows, and got his first gig with a major band when he was 17, thanks to Delio Cardoso and his Orquesta Pakason. Another star mentor early on was pianist Chucho Valdes.
Locally, Alberto boosted his profile as soon as he arrived in 1999 by gigging with jazz greats Jane Bunnett – the single biggest force in initiating the growth of Cuban music in Toronto – and Hilario Duran.
Alberto says he's devoting a lot of energy in coming months to creating tracks for a new album with Telmary, a Cuban singer/songwriter who is working out on the edges of that country's pop music scene.
Alberto and Telmary have performed and toured together in the last year. "Everybody loves Telmary," he says, hoping that her hip-hop sensibility and his passion for timba can translate into a mutual creative leap forward.
Best of all, it's happening here in Toronto."

Kjelde: JOHN TERAUDS, Thestar.com, Dec. 11. 2008.