Benito de la Fuente Escalona

Cuban musician who was a member of various groups including Mayohuacán. Member of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba.

In Holguín, his native city, together with his brothers Rodolfo and Jorge, he formed student groups, later joining the Holguín Choir and the New Trova Movement.

He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology in 1974. During his university studies in Havana, he led the group 'Típico de ciencias', which made their own the songs of Miguel Matamoros, Manuel Corona, and Ignacio Piñeiro.

After completing his higher education, he joined the workforce at the then National Tourism Institute, where he worked until 1983. There he worked as a psychologist and specialist in entertainment and music.

From 1976 to 1990, he was part of the group Mayohuacán, in which he was a singer, soloist, and composer of approximately one third of its repertoire. With Manguaré, he traveled through countries in Europe, America, and Africa and recorded several albums that included his songs, marked by the influence of son and Caribbean rhythms, such as "En el corazón de La Habana", "En la marejada", "No demasiado", "Tiene que mejorar", "Nocturno General", "Verano", and "Oxígeno".

He has performed with important Cuban and Latin American artists, among them Peruvian Susana Baca, with whom he collaborated on her album "Lamento Negro", which won a Grammy in 2002. His compositions have enriched the repertoire of Willie Chirino, Warapo, and other figures and groups.

Author of such well-known pieces as "Oxígeno", popularized by Willy Chirino, as well as "En la marejada", "Centroamérica", and "El corazón de La Habana", among others, this renowned singer-songwriter has in his career a notable participation in the Berlin Political Song Festivals in 1979 and 1980.

Belonging to the catalog of the Centro de Música Popular, de la Fuente Escalona is also a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, of the ACDAM, of the SGAE, and of the Latin Academy of Recording, which allowed him to be a voting member of the Latin Grammy Award from 1999 to 2003.

At the end of 1993, he traveled to Venezuela, where he remained until 2006. During that period, he worked as a trovador, and as a singer and composer in various groups.

In 1997, he joined the Canción Bolivariana Alí Primera Cultural Association in Barquisimeto, with which he carried out numerous activities. Since 2005, he has held the position of general secretary of the aforementioned non-governmental organization, dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of Latin American folk and popular culture.

Belonging to the catalog of the Centro de Música Popular, de la Fuente Escalona is also a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, of the ACDAM, of the SGAE, and of the Latin Academy of Recording, which allowed him to be a voting member of the Latin Grammy Award from 1999 to 2003.

One of his songs is known in much of the world: "Oxígeno", and this is because salsa groups—across the seas—have made their version of this piece. To such an extent is the song famous that when I tell someone that Benito is its author, many look at me in disbelief and exclaim: the one that Willy Chirino sings? Of course, the same one, and there should be many, many others by Benito de la Fuente.

After spending a period in Venezuela, Benito returned to Cuba some time ago, and recently he recorded an album in his name, which bears the title Fe de vida. The name of the CD responds to the fact that many people had lost track of Benito, and with this album so named, he is sending us signals that he is here among us and very active as a creator.

In essence, the album confirms this trovador as one of the good connoisseurs of our traditional music, particularly of son, a genre of which he has been a student and profound scholar. Thus, one feels in his compositions the connection with the work of figures such as Miguel Matamoros. Pieces such as "Dama antigua", "Como cuando viene un ciclón", "Chica jet set", "Creyente", "Montuno general" are part of this CD.