Maykel Blanco Cuevas

Maykel is a Cuban singer, drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, and musical director. He participated in the latin-jazz group Habana Express and the timba group Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor, formerly La Suprema Ley.

He began his percussion studies at age 12, at the Geraldo Guanche night school and later at the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory. He also learned to play the piano. At age 15, he achieved successes within the amateur artists movement.

At age 17, he was part of the orchestra La Constelación and later, at only 18 years old, he created his own orchestra Suprema Ley, in Matanzas, and recorded Ya llegaron los cubanos (2003), with the Spanish record label Envidia Record, in which his foundation in genres such as rumba and timba is evident.

Heir to the best influences of dance music in Cuba, he is said to be the successor of pianist and orchestrator Juan Carlos Alfonso (when he was in the Orquesta Revé) and the songo rhythm of Juan Formell with Los Van Van.

In 2004, he assumed the direction of Salsa Mayor, dedicating all his energy, creativity, and musical talent to developing his own concept of popular dance music, which seeks to defend the roots of Cuban music, with an updated sound and at the same time provide a fresh and youthful image.

The band is made up of 14 musicians, mostly graduates of art schools. It has a wide repertoire, especially of popular dance music (salsa or timba), also including some versions of hits like «Yo como candela» by Félix Chapotín, and other genres such as ballads, fusions, jazz... In the group there is a predominance of drums, congas, minor percussion: bongó, bell, and güiro, electro pads, keyboard, among other instruments. The brass section is also strong, with two trombones and trumpets. Studio recordings even include violins and flute.

Although he has participated in other related projects such as jazz, Maykel's objective with Salsa Mayor is to get people to dance.

Quickly, this young musician has managed to win the preference of Cuban and international audiences, as a faithful successor of the richness of Cuban popular music, where some have called him «The musical machine of Cuba».

Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor made their first major European tour during the summer of 2007, and the audience's reaction was one of total reception. They have performed on multiple occasions in Italy, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Holland, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, etc.; performing at important festivals, plazas, and nightclubs in the main cities of the world.

Since 2008, they have been in the top positions of Cuba's radio Hit Parade and gain followers every day. That year he traveled again to Europe to launch his album Anda y Pégate, published with Planet Records, where Maykel once again shakes the stages with the contagious rhythm of his Cuban timba.

In 2010, the album Soy lo que te hala followed, confirming Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor as the most interesting artist in the Cuban salsa-timba genre. During this year, his chain of successes does not stop. He carried out winter and summer tours through Europe.

2011 began with his first tour of Latin America, in Lima, Peru, with great concerts and the approval of an increasingly larger audience. Upon returning to Cuba, the group became part of the catalog of the important record label Bis Music. In 2011, his first live tour came to the stages of the United States, where he achieved a large audience, especially fans of classical music and jazz.

In 2012, Maykel completed a resounding tour of Europe and Latin America, especially in Peru and Buenaventura (Colombia), where he performed in front of ten thousand people.

In 2013, the new album A toda máquina came out, a timba production, where Maykel continues with the musical line that distinguishes him, and in just a few days achieved the top-selling tropical album on iTunes.

Some of the group's best-known hits are «Recoge y vete», «Esto está», «Cimarrón», «Qué tengo», «Anda y pégate», «Si le gusta, repite», «Quitándome lo malo», «Soy lo que te hala»; songs that have consecrated him within the ranks of great creators. Maykel is also one of the most important music producers in Cuba. With Envidia Record, he produced more than 10 CDs and served as a percussionist on more than 40. He has, in total, about twenty albums produced by him.

Noteworthy is this young musician's intervention in very important works in Habana Express, a musical group with a fusion of jazz, timba, and hip hop; he played timbal on their album De Prado a Manrique.

He is a member of UNEAC. He has recorded seven CDs in total, four of them with his current group: Recoge y vete, Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor, Anda y pégate, and A toda máquina, in which almost all the songs are of his authorship.

Awards
In 2004, one of his songs received five nominations and the award for Best Art Direction in the Cuban music video program Lucas.

In 2006, he received the award for best orchestra of Cuban popular music. And in 2007, the award for best music concert in Paris. His second-to-last album reached 3rd place in La Fiesta Cubana, in France, and 4th place for Best Song.

In 2010, he also received in Peru a plaque and tribute for being the Group Revelation of the Year, a fact that was repeated in 2011.

Members of Salsa Mayor
Maykel Blanco Cuevas, keyboard, percussion, singer, and director
José Antonio Rodriguez González, Pepitin, singer
Yaser Ramos Lorenzo, singer
Pavel Reus Delgado, La Figura, singer
Pedro Yassel González Artimez, güiro
Jaime Yunier Cruz Bustillo, percussion
Amaury Reino Perdomo, drums
Roy El Salvajón, keyboard
Jose Alberto Puentes Cabreras, bass
Ahmed Gonzalez Pozada, trumpet
Raydel Garcia Fernandez, trumpet
Leonel Polledo Llorents, trombone

Discography
2003: Ya llegaron los cubanos
2006: Recoge y vete
2006: Si quieres, quiéreme
2007: Live, desde la Casa de la Música
2008: Me olvide de quién era
2010: Soy lo que te hala
2012: A toda máquina
2015: Que no me quiten la fe.