Danny Rojo

Danny Rojo ranks among the leading romantic salsa vocalists while also distinguishing himself as a multi-instrumentalist who first earned esteem among Cuba’s foremost musicians before pivoting to ballads. During his formative years he trained in conventional classical repertoire at the Guillermo Tomas Conservatory and simultaneously absorbed the approaches of Latin jazz luminaries such as Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Arturo Sandoval at the Conservatorio Nacional Ignacio Cervantes. As a teenager he studied classical guitar, clarinet, and piano, after which he performed with ensembles ranging from woodwind quartets and military bands to chamber orchestras, before redirecting his energies toward Cuba’s popular music idioms.

Rojo ultimately adopted the bass guitar as his principal instrument, and by the time he completed conservatory training he had become a member of the Latin jazz band Alafin. With that group he appeared at the 1988 International Festival of Jazz in Havana and, one year later, at the National Festival of Contemporary Music in Camaguey. For the next three years he worked with Alberto Tosca’s traditional ensemble as well as the rock bands Magneticos and Fuego Adentro, until he defected to the United States after the 1992 Montreal Jazz Festival. He established himself in Miami, where he played in Israel Cantor’s group and performed on the Spanish television program Sabado Gigante.

A subsequent move to New York enabled Danny Rojo to concentrate on his singing ambitions, and he secured engagements with Jose Fajardo, Patato Valdez, and Daniel Ponce. In 1995 Mas Music signed him as a solo artist, leading to the release of Regalame Tu Amor, arranged by Ricky Gonzalez. His second album, Al Rojo Vivo, appeared in May 1998, followed two years later by En Talla.