Isaac Delgado Singers – Artists
One of the great singers of timba: Isaac Delgado was the lead singer of NG La Banda when timba was born, and then built his own band with Cuba's best jazz musicians.
About
Isaac Felipe Delgado Ramírez (Marianao, Havana, 11 April 1962) spells his stage name Issac. His mother was an actress, dancer and singer at the Teatro Musical de La Habana. As a child he studied cello at the Amadeo Roldán conservatory, but at first he chose sport. At eighteen pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba asked him to join the group Proyecto; after that he took voice lessons and enrolled at the Ignacio Cervantes music school.
- First bands: in 1983 the Orquesta de Pacho Alonso, with which he made his first record, and in 1987 Galaxia.
- NG La Banda (1988–1991): as lead singer of the band that launched the timba revolution, he became a star. He made three CDs with NG and became one of timba's best composers and melodic improvisers. Live he sometimes improvises words and melodies for minutes on end.
- Own band (1991): Dando la hora and Con ganas, both under Rubalcaba's artistic direction, won EGREM awards. His band featured pianists such as Tony Pérez, Iván "Melón" Lewis, Pepe Rivero and Rolando Luna.
- La sandunguita (1994): this song by his bassist Alain Pérez took such liberties with clave that old-school musicians called it "sacrilegious".
- Spontaneous arrangements: the 1996–1998 band, with Alain Pérez and Melón Lewis, could change the arrangement on the spot during a show, using flexible rhythm section schemes (Moore).
- Salsa and timba: he performed at Madison Square Garden with Celia Cruz and recorded with New York salsa musicians. Much of his recorded work sounds like salsa, with timba details in the arrangements.
- Later: in 2006 he moved to the United States. In 2013 he returned to Havana for the first time, for a concert with Silvio Rodríguez.
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