David Calzado Y Su Charanga Habanera

Sergio David Calzado Almenares, most commonly known as David Calzado, is the founder and bandleader of the timba and salsa group La Charanga Habanera. The group was formed in Havana, Cuba in 1988 when David Calzado was a young art school graduate. They quickly made a name for themselves, blending the traditional Cuban charanga style of the 1940s and 1950s with contemporary influences. Their early years were marked by performances alongside international legends like Donna Summer, Stevie Wonder, and Frank Sinatra, and tours in Japan, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, and the United States. They released their debut album Life in 1988, followed by several releases such as Cuba (1991) and Love You Forever (1992). In 1993, La Charanga Habanera's hit "Me Sube la Fiebre" catapulted them to higher levels of fame. The late 1990s and early 2000s were a period of reinvention for La Charanga Habanera due to lineup changes, evident in albums such as El Charanguero Mayor (2000) and Soy Cubano, Soy Popular (2003). The group received a Latin Grammy nomination in 2003 for their album Live in the U.S.A. (2002). In 2011, they released "La Suerte," the title track to their album that became one of the group's biggest hits and a defining moment in the Cuban timba scene. Over the following years, the group continued to expand its repertoire through the LPs Se Sufre Pero Se Goza (2013), Vivito y Coleando (2017), and Subiendo la Parada (2018).