He is a percussionist, drummer and teacher born
Alejandro Neciosup Acuna in Pativilca, Peru, to a musical family.He was self taught for the most
part and began his musical career from a very young age, performing in
bands from his local area when he was only 10 years old.When he was twelve he also began playing
the trumpet and learned to read music.Once he was in his teens he moved to Lima and when he in
1962 he joined up with Perez Prado's band and started touring and recording
with them.He stayed with them
until 1967 when he relocated in Puerto Rico and while there studied Latin
and classical percussion at the San Juan Conservatory. Six years later in 1974 he moved
once again to Las Vegas and began performing with some of the top artists of
the time and in 1975 became member of the group Weather Report, touring
Europe and featuring on the albums Heavy Weather and Black Market.Three years on and he moved yet
again, this time to California, where he became an extremely active and
sought after session musician.1980 saw him joining up with the band Koinonia and then, a decade
later, 1990 saw him releasing Alex Acuna & The Unknowns,
followed by Thinking of You and No Accent.Throughout a career that has
spanned nearly five decades it would probably be easier to list the
artists he hasn't worked with, but some of the ones he has lent his
talents to include Christina Aguilera, Joan Armatrading, Badi Assad,
Backstreet Boys, Joan
Baez, Beck, Jackson Browne, Lindsey Buckingham, Vikki Carr,
Tracy Chapman, Joe Cocker, Michel
Colombier, Chick Corea, Willie
DeVille, Placido
Domingo, Tim Finn, Roberta Flack, Dan Fogelberg, Peter
Gabriel, Herbie Hancock, Whitney Houston, Julio Iglesias, Al
Jarreau, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Leo
Kottke, Abraham
Laboriel, Bob
Malach, The
Manhattan Transfer, Paul
McCartney, Sergio Mendes, Joni
Mitchell , David
Newman, Roy
Orbison, Sam
Phillips, Elvis
Presley, Bonnie Raitt, Minnie Riperton, Lee Ritenour, Robbie
Robertson, Diana
Ross, Patrice Rushen, Carlos Santana, Lalo
Schifrin, Chester
Thompson
, Stanley
Turrentine, Was (Not Was), Bruce Willis, The Winans and Dwight Yoakam to
name just a very few. The 2000s
saw him releasing the solo albums Acuarela de Tambores,Los Hijos
del Soli: To My Country and the Grammy nominated Rhythms For a new
Millenium and, as you can imagine, the other albums he has appeared on over
the years are extremely numerous.They include Seduction of Claude Debussy by The Art of Noise,
Best Of... by Anita Baker, Autoamerican by Blondie , Slowing
Down the World by Chris Botti, Matters of the Heart by Tracy
Chapman, And So Is Love by Rita
Coolidge , Through the Eyes of
Love by Randy Crawford, Looking Forward by Crosby, Stills, Nash
& Young, Back of My Mind by Christopher Cross, Temple of Low
Men by Crowded House, Ceremony by The Cult, Heartlight by Neil
Diamond
, Best Of... by Ella Fitzgerald, Come By Me by Harry
Connick Jr.
, Greatest Songs of the Seventies by Barry Manilow,
Mathis on Broadway by Johnny
Mathis , Gran Via by Matt
Bianco ,
Whisper a Prayer by Mica Paris, Human Being by Seal, All
Systems Go by Donna Summer, Amnesia by Richard Thompson, Rattle
& Hum by U2, Escapology by Robbie Wiliams and the soundtracks of Gorillas
in the Mist, Grace of My Heart,Happy Feet,Havana,La Bamba, Mambo Kings, Miami Rhapsody and Slam Dance which
are just a small sample of his extensive output. Today he is busy working and recording in his own studio
for Alex Acuna Production Co. and working with his bands The Unknowns and
Tolu.In the field of musical
education he has taught at Berklee College of Music and the University of
California.
