Francisco Fabián Céspedes Rodríguez

Pancho Céspedes knew from a very young age that he had to abandon his medical career to focus on what really made his blood flow: music. The rhythm and all the romanticism he carried within had to flow somehow, and what better way to show his experiences than through his songs. For this reason, for several years, he was part of some Cuban groups such as Pucho López's group (with which he visited Spain for the first time in the early 1990s) and the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, a group with which he sang songs both of his own authorship and "feeling" — a music movement that emerged in Cuba, which is a mixture of bolero with jazz and with which they performed throughout his country — to finally arrive in Mexico, where he decides to settle and begin a career in music.

In 1992, when Luis Miguel was selecting the songs that would be part of "Aries," he decided to include a song written by Francisco Céspedes titled "Pensar en ti," one of the most important songs on that album, thus beginning his first stage in music as a composer. Another song by Francisco Céspedes sung by Luis Miguel in 1996 was: "Qué tú te vas," which was part of the album "Nada es igual."

Francisco Céspedes in 1994 went to Brazil where he recorded a CD at Warner Music, under the artistic direction of Leo Monte Miguez, with the songs "Ahora Puedo Decir," "Cuando Llegas Tu," "Cuando Te Vayas," "Hablo De Ti," "Cuando Todo Pasa," "Hasta Cuando," "Luna," "Miradas," "Nadie Como Tu," "No Sabes Que," "Reencuentro," "Esperanza," and "Sin Un Porque."

He participated as a soloist in the 1997 Festival de Viña del Mar, representing Mexico with "Hablo de ti," a song that he had written in Cuba years earlier and with which he achieved second place in this famous Latin American festival.

It is right after the festival's success that Francisco Céspedes managed to record his first album as a solo artist in 1997 titled: "Vida loca." In it he showed all the experiences he had had in recent years, achieving an album full of sensitivity and love that became one of the most successful in Mexico, Spain, the United States, Peru, and Chile.

During 1998 and 1999, Francisco Céspedes carried out an extensive tour visiting the most important countries in Latin America and Spain, a country in which he performed several times during the same year due to the great success of "Vida loca," an album with which he obtained Quintuple Platinum Record in this country, as well as 3 Amigo Awards as "Best Emerging Latin Artist," "Best Male Latin Soloist," and "Best Latin Album," and an Ondas Award as "Emerging Latin Artist 1998"; he also performed a duet with Presuntos Implicados on the song "Nadie como tú." In 1999, his album "¿Dónde está la vida?" came out, which was a Platinum Record for its sales in Mexico and achieved significant international success because the lead single "¿Dónde está la vida?" was aired in the Mexican telenovela "La casa en la playa."

Between March and September of 2002, he recorded "Ay Corazón," his third studio album, in Mexico City between the months of March and September of 2002. This is how in 2003 Céspedes adopts Mexican nationality, in a ceremony where it was presented to him by Vicente Fox, the president of the Mexican Republic.

For 2004, Francisco Céspedes released his Greatest Hits, "Dicen que el alma / Grandes Éxitos" where he includes two new songs: "Dicen que el alma" and his first single "Lloviendo ausencia." Also as a bonus he includes duets of "Remolino" with Ana Belén and "Vida loca" with Milton Nascimento.

In 2005 Francisco Céspedes released his new album titled "Autorretrato." The subtitle Okán Eyo, which in Yoruba means "things of the heart, problems of the soul," summarizes the essence of the album, including versions of Besame Mucho, among others.

During 2006 Francisco Céspedes returns with a new album as a tribute to Ignacio Villa, better known as "Bola de Nieve."

Some of the songs that make this material incomparable are "Ay Amor," "Vete De Mí," "No Puedo Ser Feliz," "Drume Negrita," "Adiós Felicidad." All these songs by composers such as María Grever, Chabuca Granda, Eliseo Grenet, the Expósito brothers, Ella O'farrill and Ignacio Villa himself, as well as the tribute song by Carlos Varela "Bola de Nieve" which gives a spectacular ending to this album that could be classified as a record worthy of being considered within World Music.

Produced by José Luis de la Peña and Jacobo Calderón, this new material by Céspedes also includes a DVD with a documentary that went from being a simple EPK about how the album was made to a unique experience that shows the recording process of an album of this nature, the sensitivity in the recording moments, and the present reality of Cuban artists living outside the island who return after many years to it. This video, a little over an hour long, was directed and produced by Mexican filmmaker Aldo Rohlfs, who establishes his talent and capacity.

As a final touch, the photographic work by Adolfo Pérez Butrón, carried out entirely in Havana, represents the simplicity and yet grandeur of this album impregnated with the romanticism and mysticism that always surrounded the unforgettable Bola de Nieve. With Bola's permission... Francisco Céspedes is released to the market on December 5, 2006. It received a GRAMMY nomination in 2007, and in September of that same year this material received the Latin Pride award.

On June 23, 2009, the album called "Te acuerdas…" was released for sale, with collaborations by Gonzalo Rubalcaba on piano, Ignacio Berroa on drums, Armando Gola on bass, and Richard Galliano on accordion, among other musicians. In it he recreates numbers such as "EL DIA" by Luis Demetrio, "SOLAMENTE UNA VEZ" by Agustin Lara, "MIRAME BIEN" by Pablo Milanes, "TE EXTRAÑO" by Armando Manzanero, "EL DIA QUE ME QUIERAS" by Carlos Gardel/Alfredo Lepera, "YO VENGO A OFRECER MI CORAZON" by Fito Paez, "COMENZAR DE NOVO" by Ivan Lins, "OH VIDA" FEATURING GRUPO PIEDRAS NEGRAS by Luis Yañes/Rolando Gomez, "HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE" by Bee Gees, "AQUELLAS PEQUEÑAS COSAS" by Joan Manuel Serrat, "NE ME QUITTE PAS" by Jacques Brel, "NOSTALGIA" by Jam Carlos Covian/Enrique Cadicamo.

In 2009, he left his imprint on the Walk of Fame in Mexico and received a nomination for the OYE Awards as Male Artist of the Year.

He participated in the voice acting for the Disney film titled The Princess and the Frog, lending his voice to Louis, a trumpet-playing lizard and jazz lover who lives in the swamp. In 2010 he records a duet with Maestro Armando Manzanero the album "Armando un Pancho."

Discography
Vida Loca, 1998
Dónde está la Vida, 2000
...Ay Corazón, 2002
Dicen que el Alma (greatest hits), 2004
Autorretrato, 2005
Con el Permiso de Bola, 2006
Te acuerdas..., 2009
Armando un Pancho, a duet with Armando Manzanero, 2010