Already a Grammy nominee, a three-time Latin Grammy winner and a two-time Juno winner, groundbreaking Cuban Canadian artist Alex Cuba has just picked up one more trophy for his mantel.
At a ceremony in Las Vegas last night, Cuba won the Latin Grammy for Best Singer-Songwriter Album, the most prestigious award of his career.
He took home the prize for his new album Healer, which was released at the end of March.
“This is the most meaningful Latin Grammy of all,” said Cuba, following the ceremony. “The singer songwriter category is a very well respected one, and what a pleasure for me to win it with an album that has a song [on it] with the name of my love and partner in crime Sarah.”
Cuba was referring to his wife and business partner Sarah Goodacre-Puentes, with whom he runs his independent record label and publishing company out of the tiny town of Smithers.
He wrote the song “Sarah” on Healer as a toast to her.
The duo, who celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary this Christmas Day, met when Sarah was a Latin American Studies student in Vancouver and Alex was a young musician touring with a band from his native Cuba.
Over the years, while Cuba has perfected his made-in-Canada innovations on Cuban music – simplifying it, rediscovering its soul, and blending it with other musical genres like soul, funk and rock – Sarah has helped guide him to worldwide renown as a performer, songwriter, musician and musical ambassador.
This year alone, Cuba earned standing ovations opening for Sheryl Crow at the Hollywood Bowl, garnered a second Latin Grammy nod as a composer – for cowriting Luis Enriqué’s hit Ya Comenzo with Enrique and Fernando Osorio – and played on Lucas Arnau’s Latin Grammy-nominated album Buen Camino.
Next month, he travels to Cuba with his long-time producer, Joby Baker, to host the documentary The Cuban Bus, in which the duo will seek out and record the next generation of innovative Cuban musicians.
Cuba returns to Canada in the New Year to follow up his fall tour of Ontario and Quebec with a tour of Western Canada. Dates to be announced soon.