San Miguel

San Miguel (known in his native Cuba as “El Tresero Moderno”) is a U.S.-based singer, songwriter, virtuoso guitarist, and tres player. (The tres is a guitar-like instrument featuring three double steel strings and pedals.) He is also a renowned percussionist, and respected among musical scholars, critics, and older musicians on the island for his knowledge of the roots of Afro-Cuban music. His early sound was based on son, bachata, and cumbia, but has since developed into a contemporary meld of Latin rhythms and harmonies and American — specifically West Coast — pop and electronica. San Miguel was born in Granma, Cuba. He has been playing tres since he was a child, establishing a reputation as a prodigy before he was a teen and playing professionally at 14. He was a member of Adalberto Alvarez y Su Son, Jóvenes Clásicos del Son, and Soneros de Verdad, and is a member of the new generation of the Buena Vista Social Club. His early EPs include Holy Smoke, Redamo Papa, Avalon, and Berlinismus. He has also done extensive remix production for Ali Farahani, KeyBe, and others. He arrived in the United States as a member of Adalberto Alvarez y Su Son, but was quickly “kidnapped” by Peruvian singer and producer Cecilia Noël (of Cecilia & the Wild Clams fame), who is married to former Men at Work frontman and songwriter Colin Hay. Miguel issued several singles and played on the recordings of other Latin and Anglo artists. After signing a solo deal with Compass Records in late 2016, he issued the single and title track of his forthcoming album, Un Poquito de Amor Everyday, in April of the following year with Hay as a duet partner. The pair played live to promote the single, and the album was issued in May 2017. Miguel described his new hybrid sound as “electro-tres.” The single “Yayirobe” followed in June, and “Ezequiel” was issued in August. ~ Thom Jurek