Chino Pons LIVE at Roxy Bar

Chino Pons plays a live Roxy Bar date, billed simply under his own name. The New York based Cuban singer and bandleader leads the evening; the listing does not name the musicians joining him, so expect a set centered on Pons rather than a billed ensemble. Roxy Bar describes him as a leading Latin jazz artist, while his own work draws on classic Cuban music. He is also credited as a composer, dancer and record producer, bringing several sides of that musical tradition to the room.

Born in San Miguel del Padrón, Havana, Pons moved to New York in 1998 after beginning with Miami's Tropical Sound. He performed in the subway and on the streets before studying in Ramón Rodríguez's workshop at Boys Harbor, then worked with Café con Crema, Many Puventud and Conjunto Clásico. In 2007 he formed Grupo Irek with Hensy Perez, Tosso Hettinger and Heriberto Valentin; the group became, in Roxy Bar's words, “one of the best-known and most respected Salsa acts on the New York City circuit.” Pons made his bandleader recording debut with Grupo Irek in 2008, toured Japan for the Cuban Japan festival, and released Mueve Despacito in 2014, an album of mostly original material described as “highly danceable.”