Alonso Brito (born 1950) is a Latin, alternative, salsa singer, songwriter born in
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. , Cuba. The
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
has compared him to "part
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
, part Caetano Veloso, and part Desi Arnaz on acid" and as a face for Los Angeles salsa music. During his time in Miami as a socialite he was known to have owned many nightclubs and rubbed shoulders with the likes of
Barry Gibb
Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popula ...
and
Donald Fagen
Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American musician best known as the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker. In addition to his ...
.
Life and music career
Early life
Brito was born in La Havana, Cuba in 1950. At the age of 10, a year after Fidel Castro took power in 1960, Brito was forced to leave due to political and civil unrest.
Moving to Miami at a young age he attended an all-boys Catholic prep school. Somewhat Catholic he still practiced Buddhism as well as Afro-Cuban
Santería
Santería (), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional Yoruba religion of We ...
.
Musical rise
Brito's first instrument was the drum, which he played in psychedelic rock bands.
He fronted hard-working bands such as Watchdog and Beat Poets, dabbling in styles from smooth jazz, reggae, and British pop to a Latin-tinged style dubbed "troparock."
In Miami, he was known as Dennis Britt; an eclectic musician, nightclub manager, and a night time socialite who rubbed shoulders with the likes of Barry Gibb and Donald Fagen. After separating from his wife he became a fixture of the Miami music scene during the '80s and '90s. "The singer spent his life as a bohemian troubadour, playing in bars, working in various bands and writing songs."
As a respected songwriter he moved to Nashville in the 90s to help write songs for
Raul Malo
Raúl Francisco Martínez-Malo Jr. (born August 7, 1965, in Miami, Florida), known professionally as Raúl Malo, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He is the lead singer of country music band The Mavericks and th ...
and
The Mavericks
The Mavericks are an American country music band from Miami, Florida. The band consists of Raul Malo (lead vocals, guitar), Paul Deakin (drums), Eddie Perez (lead guitar), and Jerry Dale McFadden (keyboards). Malo and Deakin founded the band in ...
; contributing to the country band's
Grammy-award winning playlists writing for their song "Things I Cannot Change".
Alonso Brito moved to Los Angeles in 2006, signed with Candor Entertainment and is currently working on the record Santo Bueno to be released in 2008.
Discography
See also
*
Music of Cuba
The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban mu ...
*
Afro-Cuban
Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of West African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural ...
*
List of Famous Afro-Latinos
References
External links
Official website*
Alonso Britoat Myspace
Alonso Britoarticle NewsOK
with
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
Alonso Britowith
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brito, Alonso
1950 births
Living people
Cuban musicians