Jesús Alejandro Pérez (nicknamed Niño Jesús, "Baby Jesus") is a

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

multi-instrumentalist and bandleader based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He is a member of

Ricardo Lemvo Ricardo Lemvo (born September 3, 1957) is a Congolese singer of Angolan descent who lives in Los Angeles, California. His music is a blend of African soukous, kizomba, samba and Cuban salsa. Early years and family Lemvo was born in Kimpese, Demo ...

's Makina Loca, a

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

band that combines Cuban and Angolan music styles. Born in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at a young age, living in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and earning the nickname of "El Niño" (The Kid) as he was usually the youngest member in every band he played. During the 1980s, his work with

–based Orquesta Versalles (featuring composer and pianist La Palabra), was popular with dancers and cemented Pérez's credentials as a bandleader. Since 1997, Pérez resides in Montreal; his knowledge of

Cuban music 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 ...

has made him one of the hubs of the Canadian

scene. His arrangements tend toward the traditional sound of charanga,

son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current ...

and

rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...

, and less to the standard sounds of post-1980s salsa. He publishes his records through the LMS Records label. Tropicomusiccoverart

In collaboration with The Daniel Indart Project and Lucho Campillo with Daniel Leon he released the soundtrack for the 2001 video game Tropico and in 2002 for the Tropico - Paradise Island. He also composed music for famous films such as Talking Lives, Sundown,

Live by Night ''Live by Night'' is a crime novel by American writer Dennis Lehane, published in 2012. It won a 2013 Edgar Award for novel of the year. Plot summary By 1926, Prohibition has given rise to an endless network of underground distilleries, sp ...

and

My Week with Marilyn ''My Week with Marilyn'' is a 2011 biographical drama film directed by Simon Curtis and written by Adrian Hodges. It stars Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Dominic Cooper, Julia Ormond, Emma Watson, and Judi Dench. Based ...

. Outside of Canada, Pérez is best known for his touring and recording with

's Makina Loca, where he plays flute, sometimes piano, and sings some vocals. Noted percussionist Edwin Bonilla (longtime member of

Gloria Estefan Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (; ; born September 1, 1957) is an American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of t ...

's band) tapped Pérez for his traditional ("duro") sound, having him as a collaborator in his records released by the SAR label. Other musicians who have engaged Pérez in long-time artistic relationships include Johnny Polanco and Hector Cuevas. Outside of his bandleading and producing skills, Pérez also plays

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

tres Tres may refer to: * Tres (instrument), a Cuban musical instrument * Tres, Trentino, municipality in Italy * ''Tres'' (2014 film), a Filipino anthology drama film based on short stories * "Tres" (song) by Juanes *"Tres", a song by Líbido from thei ...

and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

References

Official site

*
Profile on Radio Canada (French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Jesus Alejandro Living people Salsa musicians Tres players Cuban pianists Musicians from Havana 21st-century pianists Year of birth missing (living people)