At the age of 24, he decided to embark on his own career as a soloist and musical producer. That year he produced, composed and arranged much of the album Pasaporte by the Cuban percussionists Tata Guines and Angá, followed by other prominent productions he wrote and arranged several hit songs on the first and second ¡Cubanismo! albums, which led him to create his own group Maraca & Otra Visión in 1996.

Throughout the years he has produced many important projects, contributing with many compositions and arrangements of his own for Cape Verdian singer Cesaria Evora's Cafe Atlantico, the Afro-Cuban Jazz Project, Japanese singer Nora, Monique Seka, Venezuelan percussionist Orlando Poleo, Canadian Jane Bunnett, Yumuri y Sus Hermanos, Leyanis López and many more. As guest flutist, he has participated in more than 40 different productions.

Maraca currently leads two different musical projects : 

Maraca & Otra Visión, a powerful 12 piece-ensemble, which offers a broad musical spectrum and repertoire - from traditional Cuban music to Latin-jazz.

Maraca & Afro-Cuban Jazz Masters, featuring 11 musicians, is an All Stars of Cuban and Latin Music, and is characterized by the rotary system of his guests. For its sold-out US presentations in December 2001, Maraca & Afro-Cuban Jazz Masters featured the percussionists Tata Guines, Giovanni Hidalgo, Changuito, Enrique Lazaga, as well as Jimmy Bosch, Cotó, Yumurí and more. The repertoire is made of "Descargas" (Cuban Jam Sessions) and Latin-jazz tunes with original arrangements of Maraca and some the band-members.

His album Tremenda Rumba is the result of an intense artistic work arisen from the encounter between the pictorial world of Cuban painter Salvador González and the original afro-Cuban music of Maraca. It received a Grammy Award nomination for Best salsa album by NARAS in 2003, and won the Cubadisco's national recording contest  as "Best recording of the year" in  2003.

Maraca then recorded Soy Yo, which got a nomination  in 2 categories at Cubadisco 2006 ("Best danceable Cuban music and "Best recording") and won the "Best recording".

Maraca is currently promoting his newest released Lo que quiero es Fiesta (Ahi Nama Music 2008) touring widely in the US from August 27 to October 5th, 2008.

Official Web Site: www.maraca.cult.cu www.myspace.com/maracavalle

Fórmula Uno (1995)

Havana Calling (1996/97)

Sonando (1999/98)

Descarga Total (2000)

Tremenda Rumba (2002)

Soy Yo

Lo que quiero es Fiesta (Ahi Nama Music 2008)

Maraca's manager
Celine Chauveau
Ph/Fax : + 53 7 204 31 27 (Cuba)
Ph/Fax : + 33 1 60 82 70 43 (France)
maraca@cubarte.cult.cu or maraca@wanadoo.fr