Alexis Baró

Alexis Baró y La Big Band is the large-ensemble project created by Alexis Baró as the vehicle through which he could fully realize a long-held artistic vision: the re-imagining of the trumpet-led big bands that shaped Afro-Cuban jazz music from the 1940s through the 1960s.

That celebrated era placed the trumpet at the forefront of orchestral music—leading ensembles that were both sophisticated and deeply connected to rhythm, movement, and cultural identity. Drawing from this lineage, Baró envisioned a modern big band that could honour those traditions while speaking with a contemporary voice. Alexis Baró y La Big Band was formed to explore that idea at full scale.

The project marks Baró’s evolution from internationally recognized trumpet virtuoso to composer and arranger for large ensemble. While grounded in Afro-Cuban rhythmic traditions, the music is shaped through modern harmony, orchestration, and compositional structure, allowing the historical language of the big band to be re-contextualized for today’s audiences.

This artistic inquiry culminated in Afrokando, the ensemble’s debut album and defining statement. The recording represents the fusion of Baró’s influences, experience, and creative intent—restoring the trumpet’s role as a central narrative voice within a contemporary Afro-Cuban big-band framework.

Alexis Baró y La Big Band stands as both a tribute and a forward-looking expression: a project that honours a powerful musical legacy while extending it into the present, designed for concert halls, festivals, and theatres where scale, energy, and collective expression come together.