Adonis Puentes

Adonis Puentes considers music to be a sacred, serious art form.

To the Havana-born, Victoria-based performer, music is truth. Music is life. "I call it food for my soul," Puentes, 36, said. "Music is a virus you have no cure from."

He has been writing and performing music, mostly from his native Cuba, since the age of six. Early on, he was under the tutelage of his father, guitar teacher Valentin Puentes, who instilled a work ethic in Adonis and his twin brother, Alexis, that has not waned.

Thirty years after he got his start, Adonis appears to still be in awe of his famous father, who, at age 66, continues to be an inspiration for musicians all over Cuba.

"He's been teaching most of his life. At one point in Cuba, there wasn't a band that didn't have at least one member who was one of my dad's students."

Adonis will have the opportunity next week to pay back his father's mentorship. Valentin will be in Victoria on a working vacation of sorts as he joins Adonis and his combo for a tour of the Vancouver Island area. The group, which also features Noah Becker on saxophone and James Young on bass, will perform July 21 at Hermann's Jazz Club in Victoria, which Puentes hopes to transform into something resembling a dance club on this night.

"I like, more than anything, to make people dance. If I create that for an hour every week or an hour every once in a while, my life makes sense. My journey through life on Earth makes sense."

In 1998, Adonis emigrated from Cuba to Canada (July 26 will mark the 12th year of his arrival in Victoria) with hopes of finding a future in music. He encountered success alongside his brother almost instantly. By 2001, the Puentes Brothers had amassed heaps of acclaim, along with a Juno Award nomination for their debut, Morumba Cubana.

The Puentes Brothers disbanded amicably in 2002, but continue to write, record and perform together, even though Alexis currently lives in Smithers.

"We had to find ourselves, become more mature, you know?" Adonis said of the split, which he continues to field questions about, due to the duo's ongoing popularity. "That's the normal process of every human. But I would say this is a successful, beautiful story of two Cuban brothers who came here, picked up the language and kept on going."

Adonis, who is now officially a Canadian citizen, has been going full-tilt for the past three years. It began with a gig offer in Los Angeles from Cuban flautist Orlando (Maraca) Valle, which then led to the lead vocalist spot for the 15-piece ensemble, Jazz on the Latin Side All Stars, which recently performed at The Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl.

He also also sang on It's About Time!, the Latin Grammy-nominated recording by Orestes Vilató, former percussionist for Santana.

"Basically, the doors opened," Puentes said of his L.A. experiences, which continue to develop. "I started singing, and the next thing I know I got this amazing gig as a lead singer. With that band, I opened many doors and met many people. It has been fantastic."

That would explain why gigs by Puentes in the Victoria area have been irregular (his last local performance was in February of last year at the inaugural Latin Jazz Festival.)

He's hoping to make up for lost time with next week's tour. Thrilled with the prospect of playing alongside his father and Becker, who all did a series of gigs together four years ago, he is equally excited about debuting some of his forthcoming new music. Puentes said he is working on a new album due for release early next year, his first since 2005's Vida.

The album will be a reflection of his family roots that spring from the town he was born and raised in, Artemisa, a tiny community located south of Havana. It continues to inspire him creatively, Puentes said.

"I've been [in Victoria] 12 years, but I'm still promoting the tradition of Cuban music. And the only way for me to be believable to people, to be a messenger -- and I believe I am a messenger for my roots -- is to keep drinking from the source. And that has been the studio in my parents' living room. It keeps me centred, keeps me strong. It's important to me. As long as I keep clear where I come from, I have a better picture of where I'm going."

The future may very well include a second offering by the Puentes Brothers, if things go as planned. Both brothers are busy with their respective careers, but if Adonis has his way, the followup to Morumba Cubana will be one for the "dancers," in addition to their longtime fans.

"I think we owe that to the universe," he said.
- Times Colonist - Mike Devlin

Puentes soars and glides effortlessly over his original material. His songs are fine examples of the kind of singing Cuban performers are renown for, heartfelt and emotional and delivered with a simple elegance. Nobody does it better than Adonis Puentes. - Jim McElroy - JazzReview.com

After a decade of American Idol, Canadian Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, X-Factor and America’s Got Talent, who could blame us for thinking that a guitar, a fresh look and a decent ’do are a ticket to the Big Time.

More often than not, however, it’s slow, steady work that wins the talent race.

Just ask Cuban-born singer-songwriter Adonis Puentes, who makes his first visit to Toronto in five years with a salsa-heavy program at Lula Lounge on Saturday night.

He’s seen both sides of the talent game.

At age 21, Puentes was one of the finalists in the Mi Salsa competition on Cuban TV in 1995. With the audiences’ applause still ringing in his ears and stars in his eyes, he, his fraternal twin Alexis and guitar-master father Valentín left the sun-soaked island to seek fame and fortune on a Canadian tour.

Despite going from being young stars back home, to total nobodies up here, the boys liked what they saw and worked out a way to emigrate to Vancouver Island three years later.

It’s been a long, often lonely, but steady road back to bigger stages and brighter lights ever since.

Alexis has a thriving career under the name of Alex Cuba, working in a fusion of various traditional and contemporary Latin styles.

Adonis has stayed true to more traditional roots as a soñero — a performer of Cuban son, a mix of what we think of as salsa and African-sourced percussion. This Puentes brother is a purist. He thinks of himself as a missionary, spreading a mix of soulful balladry and dance-friendly Cuban vibe to eager ears, hearts and hips.

The sweat finally paid off last year, when he scored invitations to the SXSW music festival in Texas, a couple of high-profile gigs in New York City and a big jazz festival in Jakarta, Indonesia.

He was also finally able to pull together the musicians and intends to record a second solo album, in Los Angeles. It should be ready for release in a few months.

On the phone from the recording studio, with his band members noodling and laughing in the background, Puentes marvels that it’s been six years since he last put out an album.

“Time flies when you’re having a good time,” he says.

Like his first album, Vida, the new, still-untitled project is also an independent production. “It’s the only way I can keep creative control,” Puentes says. “It also means that I can have more control from the economic side, too. That is so important in this time, when the record industry is changing so quickly.

“After 13 years in North America, I’ve learned a little bit. Sometimes it’s hard, but I would not put out a record any other way.”

From a purely creative point of view, this is Puentes’ first fully solo album. His co-producer, and songwriting partner on Vida was brother Alexis. These new songs are all Adonis. “They are 100 per cent of my personality as a performer and composer,” he insists.

The tracks feature a big band, “and are more geared to dancing,” says Puentes. The groove includes forays into cha cha and cumbia. “It’s like a big party,” he adds.

Puentes says his Toronto audience can expect a similar vibe from the Lula gig on Saturday, thanks to a seven-piece band, “along with a couple of special guests,” Puentes says.

“Make sure you bring your dancing shoes,” he adds. - Toronto Star - John Terrauds

Adonis Puentes is a key personality in the ever expanding latin music scene. He opens up the marvelous world of Cuban music to his audiences the second they hear his rich voice. When the other players kick in with their tight, multilayered groove it becomes clear that in Adonis Puentes we also have a bandleader with major cred. - Micheal Juk - CBC