Danny Rojo

Besides being one of the more popular romantic salsa vocalists, Danny Rojo is also a multi-instrumentalist who gained respect from the top rank of Cuban musicians before turning to ballads. He spent his youth studying both traditional classical music (at the Guillermo Tomas Conservatory) and the other half learning about Latin jazz masters such as Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Arturo Sandoval (at the Conservatorio Nacional Ignacio Cervantes). After taking lessons in classical guitar, clarinet and piano as a teenager, Rojo played in a wide range of groups, from woodwind quartets to military bands and chamber orchestras before changing focus to the popular music of Cuba.

Danny Rojo eventually made the bass guitar his instrument of choice, and by the time of his graduation from conservatory, he had joined the Latin jazz band Alafin; he played in the 1988 International Festival of Jazz in Havana and the National Festival of Contemporary Music in Camaguey one year later. During the next three years, Rojo played with Alberto Tosca's traditional group, as well as rock bands like Magneticos and Fuego Adentro, but then defected to America after the 1992 Montreal Jazz Festival. He settled in Miami, playing with Israel Cantor's group and performed on the Spanish television show Sabado Gigante.

Another move, to New York, precipitated Danny Rojo's hopes of making it as a singer, and he found work with Jose Fajardo, Patato Valdez and Daniel Ponce; he was signed as a solo act to Mas Music in 1995, and recorded the album Regalame Tu Amor with arranger Ricky Gonzalez. His second album, Al Rojo Vivo, was released in May 1998 and En Talla followed two years later.