Francisco Céspedes

Cuban-born singer/songwriter Francisco Céspedes left his career as a physician to get involved in popular music. The talented artist decided to stay in Mexico while visiting the country along with the Cuban Modern Music Orquestra. In 1992, Luis Miguel recorded his songs “Pensar en Ti,” featured on his album Aries, and “Que Tu Te Vas,” on Nada Es Igual, which were good enough to captivate the attention of Warner Music. In 1997, Céspedes participated in the Viña del Mar Festival, representing Mexico with “Hablo de Ti” and issuing his debut album, Vida Loca, that same year. In 1998, the singer and composer joined Presuntos Implicados, recording “Nadie Como Tú.” Later, Céspedes made Dónde Esta la Vida, recorded in Mexico and the U.S., produced by Juan Carlos Paz y Puente. In 2000, Céspedes delivered Dónde Está la Vida. Driven by the title track, which was used as the theme for the Mexican telenovela La Casa en la Playa, it became internationally famous and pushed the album to certified platinum status in Mexico. Ay Corazón followed in 2002. While it sold reasonably well, it did not crack the Latin Albums chart as its predecessor had. The following year he took part in the album and tour Cuatro Voces with Ricardo Montaner, José José, and Cristian Castro. Autorretrato, an homage to his homeland, was issued in 2005 and produced by Dagoberto González, Jr. Two years later, he teamed with famed Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba for Con el Permiso de Bola, in a program of laid-back Cuban-rooted jazz/pop tunes. Radio picked up on both the wistful “Adios Felicidad” and the fingerpopping “La Flor de la Canela.” Some of the other musicians on the recording included drummer Ignacio Berroa, bassist Armando Gola, and Richard Galliano on accordion. The pair took the set on the road. In 2009, Céspedes issued Te Acuerdas, his most consistent and musically adventurous album; it was nominated for a Grammy in 2010 for Best Latin Pop album. He toured hard behind the release, prompting his label to issue several compilations to fill the gap. In 2012, he and Armando Manzanero issued Armando un Pancho for Sony in Spain. Despite its co-billing, the pair alternated performances of Manzanero’s songs save for a pair of duets. it was back to Warner critically acclaimed Todavía (produced by Aneiro Taño) in 2015, followed by another tour. The record charted in Mexico, Cuba, and in South America. In 2017, Warner released Desde el Teatro Karl Marx [En Vivo], cut at the legendary Havana theater. Céspedes was backed by a host of Cuba’s most famous musicians including singer Pablo Milanés. The album’s first single was a 20th anniversary live reading of his first hit, “Vida Loca.” ~ Drago Bonacich