Manolito

The multi-talented Latin salsa artist Manolito Simonet became one of the genre's most promising new artists by the late '90s, even though he's been slugging it out since the previous decade. A talented pianist, Simonet's original compositions have been recorded by such renowned Cuban bands such as Elio Revé y su Charangón and Charanga '86, and they've also turned up in movie soundtracks, he got his first break when he joined the progressive charanga group Orquesta Maravilla de Florida. In 1993, Simonet formed the group Manolito y su Trabuco, a charanga group which originally consisted of three singers, two trombones, and a trumpet (in addition to their leader) -- eventually growing to be an 11 piece outfit, as they were spotlighted consistently on Cuban radio and on the television show Mi Salsa. Thus far, Manolito y su Trabuco has issued a pair of albums -- 1996's Directo al Corazon and 2000's Para Que Baile Cuba. ~ Greg Prato