Alejandro Ernesto Balbis (

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, December 4, 1967) is a Uruguayan singer, composer, guitarist and

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Biography

Early life

Alejandro Balbis took his first steps in music at a young age, taking guitar lessons with Jorge Lazaroff, and then singing and directing the children

murga Murga is a form of popular musical theatre performed in Montevideo, Uruguay, Panama, Argentina and Badajoz, Spain during the Carnival season. Murga groups also operate in the Buenos Aires Carnival, though to a lesser extent than in Montevideo; ...

''Firulete'', which later changed its name to ''Contrafarsa''. Eventually, he started competing in the major ''carnaval''. As time went by, Balbis started to grow as an artist and to gather beginning, young musicians he met at singing workshops he gave in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina. His main influences were

Alfredo Zitarrosa Alfredo Zitarrosa (March 10, 1936 – January 17, 1989) was a Uruguayan singer-songwriter, poet and journalist. He specialized in Uruguayan and Argentinean folk genres such as zamba and milonga, and he became a chief figure in the ''nueva canci� ...

Carlos Gardel Carlos Gardel (born Charles Romuald Gardès; 11 December 1890 – 24 June 1935) was a French-born Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, and the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was one of the most influential inte ...

and Atahualpa Yupanqui, among many others.

Carnaval

Since childhood, he showed a great fondness of ''carnaval'', more specifically, the ''murgas''. He went on to become part of ''murgas'' such as ''Contrafarsa'', ''Falta y Resto'', ''Saltimbanquis'', ''A Contramano'', ''Asaltantes con Patente'', etc.

Solo career

After many years of experimenting with different sounds and musicians, "Ale" Balbis got to record his debut album, titled "El Gran Pez", in reference to the movie '' Big Fish'', which had a big impact on the musician's life. The record was viewed in a positive light by critics, especially in ''Billboard'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazines, getting a four star score in the latter. The album was presented in Club Niceto and sold out.

Current band

* Tomás Wille (drums, percussion) * Tiago Vega (bass) * Manuel Eguía (guitar) * Sebastián Baró (lead guitar) * Leandro Stivelman (first chorus, accordion) * Nicolás Oviedo (chorus) * Valentin de la Concepción (chorus)

Discography

* ''El Gran Pez'' ( Montevideo Music Group – 2009) * ''Sin remitente'' ( Montevideo Music Group – 2013)

Bibliography

* ''Montevideo Cachichurris. Issue No. 13 – April 4, 1999, Page 9. Weekly publication – Montevideo, Uruguay.''

References

1967 births Living people 21st-century Uruguayan male singers Singers from Montevideo Uruguayan composers Male composers Uruguayan male guitarists {{Uruguay-musician-stub