Cimafunk – El Alimento Tour
September 28, 2022
Afro-Cuban Rockstar Cimafunk is redefining contemporary Cuban music, Afro-Latin identity, and black culture. Considered one of today’s greatest showmen, he performs an electric live show with his 9-person band from Havana. Join Arizona Arts Live, Best Life Presents, and Hotel Congress for an evening that will make you move!
Cimafunk’s monumental second album El Alimento released in October 2021, receiving overwhelming praise for celebrating black music’s power. Co-produced by Grammy-award winning producer Jack Splash (CeeLo Green, Kendrick Lamar, Alicia Keys), the album features hip-hop stars Lupe Fiasco, CeeLo Green, and AfroCuban jazz icon Chucho Valdés among others. El Alimento ranked #3 of the Best Spanish-Language and Bilingual Albums of 2021 and #23 of the 50 Best Albums of 2021. It also ranked among NPR’s Best Latin Music of 2021 and #1 of Le Monde’s Latin Music favorites. Singles also made their way through 2021 lists: “Rómpelo” was among NPR Alt. Latino’s best singles of 2021 and “Funk Aspirin” in Remezcla’s 10 Best Indie Pop, Rock, & Chill Songs of 2021.
Recorded in 2020, El Alimento served as an alimento–or motivation–for the soul to persevere through the pandemic. Cimafunk spent countless hours studying decades of musical influences to help understand himself musically and culturally. As collaborator and innovator George Clinton (Parliament-Funkadelic) says: “Cimafunk takes it back there while keeping it in the now. It’s what we do, always reinventing the Funk to keep it fresh.”
In addition to being named a “Top 10 Latin Artist to watch” by Billboard, Cimafunk stole the show at the 2019 South by Southwest Music Festival. Prior to the pandemic, his moving performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series was chosen as one of the overall best TDC’s of 2020. These coincided with Cimafunk’s inaugural Getting Funky in Havana festival, where he joined forces with Trombone Shorty, Tank & The Bangas and The Soul Rebels to celebrate the New Orleans – Cuba cultural connection and blackness.