Alex Acuña

Alex Acuña (born 1945) was born in the town of Pativilca in central Peru. His father was a music teacher, who also built percussion instruments. With five older brothers who were already musicians, his mother hoped that he might become something different, but Acuña would hide under the table while his father was teaching. His family only learned he could play, when he stood in for one of his brothers at a dance party at the age of 10. At 16, he moved to the capital, Lima, where he became an in demand session player on television and radio.

A successful audition for Mambo King, Perez Prado, led to an invitation to tour South America, and then the United States. At just 18, he had to be chaperoned for much of the US tour. At 20, Acuña moved to Puerto Rico, where he started a family, studied, and returned to session work.

In 1974, he returned to Las Vegas, and found himself playing with Elvis Presley for two years during his residencies. He was playing for Olivia Newton John and The Temptations when Miles Davis’ percussionist Don Alias heard him and was duly impressed, and suggested he turn to jazz. Acuña took little persuading as this was his reason for coming to the United States. Through Alias, he had the opportunity to tour Europe with Weather Report in Autumn 1975, and was invited to join the group on their next two (classic) albums, Black Market and Heavy Weather.

By 1977, Acuña had become an in demand session musican yet again, recording in that year alone with artists as diverse as Joni Mitchell, Minnie Riperton, Japanese saxophonist Sadao Watanabe, and fellow session player Lee Ritenour, with whom he would continue to work into the 1990s. The list of albums Acuña has appeared with, live or on record, is insanely long and certainly not confined to jazz, but a small selection might include Wayne Shorter, Ella Fitzgerald (on her Jobim album), Lalo Schifrin, Brecker Brothers and Yellowjackets on the jazz side, Christina Aguilera, Paul McCartney, Diana Ross and Placido Domingo on the not so jazzy side. From his base in Los Angeles, he has also appeared on the soundtracks for around 300 films, and from 1980 co-led a jazz fusion ‘supergroup’ of session musicians, Koinania. He has recorded a couple of albums in his own name, the most impressive of them, the Grammy nominated Acuarela de Tambores. It’s a virtuoso exploration of latin rhythms, but not really a jazz record.

Key Recordings:
Heavy Weather (Columbia 1977) with Weather Report
Acuarela de Tambores (Tonga 2000)
Lyle Mays (Geffen 1986) with Lyle Mays