Mireya Castañeda

Paulo Fernández Gallo (Havana, 1962) - known simply among all Cuban dancers, and around the world, as Paulo FG - is celebrating his 25 years as a popular favorite.

Undoubtedly an important milestone for an artist, to which he will add celebrations for the 20th anniversary of his group Paulito FG y su Élite.

"I feel so rewarded by all the public affection," the singer said during a press conference at the beautiful new bar Adagio, recently inaugurated on the famous corner of Prado and San Rafael streets, next to Havana’s Grand Theater.

Paulito, in addition to offering a brief summary of his artistic career, announced a concert in the immense Karl Marx Theater, and two performances, one for "night owl dancers" at the Cecilia restaurant and one, of course, in the great patio of La tropical.

Paulito has conceived of a unique commemorative CD to accompany the celebrations. "It is not a traditional CD with the musicians who have passed through the band, nor a collection of our hits, because I am full of energy and creativity. So I have gone for another dream, a disc with tracks specially composed for the new album, with special guests such as Alexander Abreu, Mayito Rivera, Larisa Bacallao."

What’s more, the disc will introduce what Paulito has called the new timba elite, "continuing 20 years of work. We have a solid foundation musically, and we have been generous with other genres, but always maintaining our approach, which has given us prestige nationally and internationally."

Recognized as a composer, creating lyrics which chronicle his days without clichés or vulgarity, such as Ilusión de papel, Siempre hay un ojo que te ve, and Sofocación.

Paulo FG was part of a number of groups earlier in his career, including Iya Son, Fantástica Son, Los Yakos, Galaxia, Adalberto Álvarez y su Son, Opus 13 y Dan Den. "Stages I need to go through before I formed my own group since I wanted something more dynamic, to do my own songs, a more personal music."

The Élite was founded in 1992 and since then has recorded ten discs. The first was a great hit among dancers, Tú no me calculas, in 1993, which was simultaneously launched in Havana and Tokyo. In 1994 he signed with Magic Music, in Barcelona and made his second recording, Sofocándote, which went 22 weeks on Cuban radio’s Hit Parade.

The third disc, El bueno soy yo, (1996) took prizes in the categories of Dance Music and Popularity, awarded by EGREM (Cuba’s recording company), before the advent of the Cubadisco awards.

In 1997 he recorded for La Fania, his fourth album Con la conciencia tranquila, and one year later with the same label, Homenaje a Tito Rodríguez, "which La Fania did not distribute", Paulito indicated during the press conference.

In 2000 he released Una vez más por amor; in 2002, Te deseo suerte, and in 2005 recorded, with the Cuban company BISMUSIC, the CD Ilusión, a collection of classic boleros with a contemporary sound which won a Cubadisco prize that year in the song category. BISMUSIC also produced his 2006 CD Un poquito de to’, which fuses son, rock, rumba, jazz, rap and reggaetón.

"In music," he asserted at the Adagio, "there’s room for all, people have different musical preferences, like different genres, trova, boleros; we are identified with timba, which maintains the essence of son, but is more aggressive, more fusion, played more relaxed and stronger."