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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Alex Acuña| image = Fermatta Master Class Series Alex Acuña.jpg| alt =| caption =| image_size =| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist| birth_name = Alejandro Neciosup Acuña| alias =| birth_date = Birth date and age|1944|12|12| birth_place = Peru | death_date =| death_place =| origin =| instrument = Percussion | genre = Jazz , jazz fusion , afro-cuban jazz | occupation = Drummer , percussionist , teacher| years_active = | label =| associated_acts = Perez Prado , Weather Report , Koinonia (band)|Koinonia | website =| notable_instruments = Alejandro Neciosup Acuña aka Alex Acuña (born December 12, 1944)cite book|last=Collins|first=Catherine|title=The new Grove dictionary of jazz|year=2002|publisher=Grove's Dictionaries Inc.|location=New York|isbn=1561592846|edition=2nd|coauthors=Kernfeld, Barry|editor=Barry Kernfeld|pages=11-12|chapter=Acuña, Alex is a Peru vian drummer and percussionist , in the Afro-Cuban jazz style.
Born in Pativilca , Peru , Acuña played in local bands from the age of ten, and moved to Lima as a teenager. At the age of eighteen he joined the band of Perez Prado , and in 1967 he moved to Puerto Rico . In 1974 Acuña moved to Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas , working with artists such as Elvis Presley and Diana Ross , and the following year he joined the jazz-fusion group Weather Report , appearing on the albums Black Market (album)|Black Market and Heavy Weather (album)|Heavy Weather . Acuña left Weather Report in 1978, and became a session musician in California , recording and playing live with (amongst many others) Paul McCartney , Joni Mitchell , Ella Fitzgerald , Jim Walker (flautist)|Jim Walker , Chick Corea , Whitney Houston , Plácido Domingo , Phil Keaggy , Sergeant Petter, Sam Phillips (singer)|Sam Phillips , former Weather Report bandmates Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul , Herbie Hancock , Carlos Santana , Antonio Carlos Jobim , Beck , Roberta Flack , U2 , and Al Jarreau . He can be found on recordings by musicians as culturally diverse as Javier Malosetti, Lee Ritenour , Peter Gabriel , Johnny Clegg , Robbie Robertson , Jackson Browne and Flavio Sala .
In the 1980s Acuña also recorded and toured with the Christian jazz band Koinonia (band)|Koinonia , which featured session musicians Abraham Laboriel , Justo Almario , Hadley Hockensmith, Harlan Rogers, and Bill Maxwell. He played on Willy DeVille 's Crow Jane Alley album and in 1987 he teamed up with Elvis Presley 's TCB Band for the Roy Orbison TV special " Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night|A Black and White Night ". He played percussion on Blondie (band)|Blondie 's number one hit " The Tide Is High ".
He has also worked as an educator at University of California, Los Angeles and Berklee College of Music .
Selected discography
(1976) Black Market (album)|Black Market - Weather Report
(1977) Heavy Weather (album)|Heavy Weather - Weather Report
(2000) Acuarela de Tambores - Alex Acuña ( Grammy nominee)
(2002) Los Hijos del Sol: To My Country - Alex Acuña
(2005) No accent - Alex Acuña and the Unknowns
(2011) Heritage (Opeth album)|Heritage - Opeth - Percussion on 'Famine'
Awards
Best Latin/Brazilian Percussionist, Modern Drummer's Readers Poll.
References
reflist
External links
http://www.drummagazine.com/hand-drum/post/alex-acuntildea-command-in-all-directions1/ Alex Acuña DRUM& #33; Magazine Interview
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Alex_Acuna.html Alex Acuña at Drummerworld
http://www.zawinulfans.org/modules/sections/index.php? op=viewarticle& artid=28 Interview with Alex Acuña
Weather Report Persondata| NAME = Acuna, Alex | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = Musician | DATE OF BIRTH = December 12, 1944 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Peru | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Acuna, Alex Category:Cuban jazz (genre) drummers Category:Peruvian jazz drummers Category:Peruvian percussionists Category:Cuban jazz percussionists Category:Jazz percussionists Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:Weather Report members
