{"id":44278,"date":"2022-10-26T19:04:30","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T15:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/?p=44278"},"modified":"2022-11-03T13:15:04","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T09:15:04","slug":"a-cool-gig-for-the-cooler-evenings-raul-midon-and-alex-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/a-cool-gig-for-the-cooler-evenings-raul-midon-and-alex-cuba\/","title":{"rendered":"A cool gig for the cooler evenings: Raul Midon and Alex Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The weather\u2019s getting more pleasant for long outdoor evenings, which means it\u2019s time for The Arts Center at NYUAD to move some of its performance outside into the East Plaza. The first such al fresco event this season features two really quite exceptional singer-songwriters, genius guitarists who both write exceptional songs; they\u2019ll be performing individually but also have a set playing together.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what will we be getting? And why should we be there anyway?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The short answer is that this a rare opportunity to hear two supremely talented musicians who have honed their art to the point where it\u2019s immensely accessible and yet sufficiently sophisticated to be genuinely interesting. It\u2019s not esoteric, angular, internalised, or in a y way \u2018difficult\u2019; this is music for the people, crafted to perfection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Raul Mid\u00f3n was born in New Mexico to an Argentinian father and an African-American mother. He\u2019s been blind since infancy; but that hasn\u2019t slowed down his love of music, which reportedly started at age four when his father introduced him to the drum and continued via guitar and other instruments at school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He went to the University of Miami, which he selected for its jazz curriculum, and after graduating in 1990 he slipped into a career as a session singer for Latin recording artists. He worked with several big names, including Shakira, Alejandro Sanz, Julio Iglesias, and Jose Feliciano, before he settled in New York City to pursue a solo career. Since then he\u2019s released 11 albums, and there\u2019s not a dud among them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His ability to hook up with other artists is a feature of his career \u2013 his 2005 debut album State of Mind (2005) featured guest performances by Stevie Wonder and Jason Mraz, along with a song written in tribute to another of his idols, Donny Hathaway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then he has collaborated with an eclectic mix of names \u2013 Bill Withers, Queen Latifah, Herbie Hancock, Christina Aguilera, Johnny Mathis, Al Jarreau, Elvis Costello, Laura Mvula, Snarky Puppy and Snoop Dogg; he has worked with Grammy Award-winning producer Larry Klein and top house producer Louie Vega; and he has had his songs featured in films like Spike Lee’s She Hate Me and the Nick Nolte vehicle The Peaceful Warrior. Two of his recordings have been nominated for Grammys in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category, and his most recent \u2013 2021\u2019s The Mirror \u2013 was up for a Libera Award for best jazz album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not that he\u2019s easily characterised as a jazzman. His solo albums are filled with songs that draw from acoustic funk and 70s soul (like Marvin Gaye), soft jazz and yacht rock, and even art rock (you can hear a touch of Steely Dan sometimes). He has described himself as \u201ca songwriter that does jazz. I don\u2019t really fit neatly into any category …\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And none of that back story can really prepare you for a live Raul Mid\u00f3n performance. When he just walks on to the performance area with his guitar to sing his deceptively simple songs, you just know you\u2019re in the presence of a very special talent. Yes, he has a beautiful tenor voice; yes, he can express anything from passion to pity; yes, he can play that acoustic guitar in fast or slow styles \u2013 accelerated arpeggios or a relaxed walking bass line, flamenco strumming or precise finger-picking; and yes, he has a trick or two \u2013 like his \u2018vocal trumpet\u2019 solos, imitating a bebop trumpet to add extra colour. No wonder the New York Times called him \u201ca one-man band who turns a guitar into an orchestra and his voice into a chorus\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s not just technical virtuosity for its own sake; the guy writes truly great songs, and numbers like State of Mind, Sunshine I Can Fly and If You’re Gonna Leave already sound like standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, they come naturally. Midon admits he has his heroes \u2013 Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Bill Withers \u2013 and he does sometimes sound like Ray Charles, or maybe Nat King Cole. But the person he sounds most like is Raul Mid\u00f3n, a soulful, funky artist whose musicianship, songwriting and personality go way beyond mere imitation or influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than the handicap it might have been, his blindness is possibly the key to his skill: \u201cAs someone who has never seen, I\u2019ve always felt at a disadvantage in that lyric writing is usually very visual,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople really relate to images and I\u2019ve never seen images. But what I realised early on is that you have to write from what you know, and I hear, touch and feel intensely \u2013 and those are sensations and experiences that everyone can relate to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alex Cuba may be a long-time Canadian resident, but Cuba is his birthplace as well as his chosen stage name (he was actually born Alexis Puentes) \u2013 and Cuba\u2019s musical traditions are in his blood. But he\u2019s emphatically not tied to tradition; his musical vision is expansive, clearly reflecting Latin and African influences but overlaid with funk, pop and jazz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has won two Juno Awards for World Music Album of the Year; in 2010 he won the Latin Grammy for Best New Artist, his 2015 album Healer earned him a Latin Grammy Award for Best Singer-Songwriter, and Mend\u00f3 won the 2022 Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album (it was his fourth nomination for the award).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex Cuba\u2019s father was a respected Cuban guitarist and teacher with a performing group of 24 guitarists, which Alex joined when he was old enough. He studied more instruments, toured and recorded, moved to British Columbia at the end of the century, and recorded an album there with his twin brother Adonis. His first two solo debuts earned him his two Juno awards (in 2006 and 2008).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More albums and more awards followed, including a couple of the prestigious Socan Hagood Hardy Awards for \u201coutstanding achievement in jazz and world music\u201d. It was his fifth studio album, Healer, which marked a notable change in scope \u2013 it\u2019s an upbeat, acoustic soul album, recorded with a rhythm section to add horns to the guitars and vocal harmonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many musicians, Alex Cuba was particularly productive during lockdown. Asked about his motivation during this time he told one interviewer \u201cmusic is something that\u2019s so necessary in our lives. It\u2019s so wonderful to remain creative and to remain optimistic. That has kept me focused. It made it easier\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere he was more explicit: \u201cIt has been super important to keep believing that a song can change the life of a human being. Looking at it from that point of view, I find a huge responsibility as an artist and that responsibility I believe keeps me going \u2013 it makes me feel that I can play a part to help maintain hope in this world\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For his eighth album Mend\u00f3 (it\u2019s an afro Cuban word which he said loosely translates as \u201csubstance of the soul\u201d) he added recording engineer to his credits as musician, singer-songwriter, and producer. This is his most wide ranging album to date, featuring a 13-piece horn band from Cuba and a roster of international collaborations \u2013 the album has Lila Downs, flamenco artist Antonio Carmona, Cimafunk, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Gian Marco \u2026 and Raul Midon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also a classic of Alex Cuba\u2019s work, engaging tunes that are always accessible (some real toe-tappers here) but show a level of sophistication that keeps the music interesting. Alex likes to quote someone (maybe John Coltrane, though many have said similar): \u201cTalent is the ability to make the complicated sound simple\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His music is often described as sunny, inherently optimistic, and maybe that\u2019s not too far from the truth. \u201cWhenever I was say \u2018My music is happy\u2019 I thought that maybe people were going to think that I didn\u2019t want to see the world, to see life, for what it is. It took me a little while to realise that that\u2019s who I am \u2026 When I\u2019m not at peace with myself, when I\u2019m not happy or excited, when I\u2019m angry or upset, in that moment, I really don\u2019t like to sing \u2026 Now, if something happens [that makes me] happy, a song comes rushing from me. I don\u2019t know why \u2014 that\u2019s how I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t just write a sad song or an angry song just because I want to try. Nothing happens. It is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a good enough summary of how he works. He has another quote that summarises why he does it: \u201cYou have to aim for people who are not musicians. How are you going to reach their souls? By being honest, by being simple, by being essential. That\u2019s what I\u2019ve done with my music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We\u2019re enthusiastic about both artists, and together they should make for a magical performance. Don\u2019t just believe us, try it for yourself: both have extensive YouTube catalogues. For starters, here\u2019s Raul Mid\u00f3n with his breakthrough number State of Mind<\/a>; he was very engaging doing a couple of numbers<\/a> a few years ago at a TED Talks performance; and his live rendition of John Coltrane\u2019s classic (and famously complicated) Giant Steps<\/a> is frankly extraordinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here\u2019s a classic Alex Cuba track, Solo M\u00eda<\/a>, with Leonel Garc\u00eda; try the flamenco-inflected Coraz\u00f3n Gitano,<\/a> featuring Antonio Carmona; and here\u2019s his Mend\u00f3 track with Raul Mid\u00f3n, Camina y Ven<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Raul Mid\u00f3n and Alex Cuba perform in NYUAD\u2019s East Plaza on 3 November; tickets are AED 105 for general admission, AED 52.50 for under-18s. Details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The weather\u2019s getting more pleasant for long outdoor evenings, which means it\u2019s time for The Arts Center at NYUAD to move some of its performance outside into the East Plaza. The first such al fresco event this season features two [… more]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","category-performance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magpie.ae\/staging4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}