CubaPLUS Magazine

An old saying goes: when the river sounds it is…because it brings stones and, in the case at hand, I would say: when Toques del Río sounds it is…because it brings music, and good music. Created two decades ago, in its beginning as a cultivator of Flamenco jondo, the Toques del Río group evolved, first into Flamenco fusion and then to what it does today: Alternative Music, genre fusion and Total Music, as they call it, in whose proposals they present themes authored by their members.

In an interview with CubaPLUS, Zeney Alonso, bassist and director of the group, originally from the western province of Pinar del Río, spoke of the extensive career of Toques del Río, which has trodden dissimilar stages in Cuba and Mexico, including numerous festivals such as the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, the Habano Festival, International Jazz Plaza Festival, in the Romerías de Mayo and the Huella de España, where they shared with prominent Cuban and foreign musicians.

"We interpreted the soundtrack of the 8th animated feature film from the studios of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) "La Súper", already released in recent months. An unforgettable experience that we want to repeat with the cinema or audiovisual, and as a band.

 We are one of the leading artists of the documentary "La isla de la música" (The Resistance), which will be released at the Chaplin Cinema on April 27”, he added. "We have received various recognitions, awards and nominations, including the Cuerda Viva 2015 and 2016 award in different categories, as well as the Lucas awards in various categories and years, and we were nominated at CubaDisco 2017 with the Album "Pa que te sosiegues" in the Fusion category”, he said.

When talking about the group's record production, he pointed out that so far they have produced an official album, "Pa'que te sosiegues", although they have made 2 demos, several independent singles and collaborations with artists and charity campaigns.

The second official album of Toques Del Río, he said, will be out this year and is originally entitled "La Crisis." He finally referred to the group's plans and said that “we are working on various projects of which we cannot anticipate much, only that they link the music with other things of which we are a part. There will always be original or author music within what Toques del Río does, as well as Cuban and universal culture,” he concluded.