As Alfredo Rodriguez was growing up in Havana, Cuba, his world was constrained by restrictions imposed within his country. His parents enrolled him in a classical conservatory, but he was quickly shut down by his first teacher, who declared him devoid of talent. In spite of this, his love for piano continued to grow. With no piano to practice on at home, he painted piano keys on his parents’ dinner table so he could run his scales.

In 2006, at age 19, he received an invitation to represent Cuba at the Montreux Jazz Festival in the International Solo Piano Competition. Once in Switzerland, he was invited to festival founder Claude Nobs’ chalet to play for the guests—one of whom happened to be legendary producer Quincy Jones. 

Upon Jones’ return to Los Angeles, he called his VP and explained that Rodriguez was one of the best pianists he had ever seen, and they needed to work with him. But because Alfredo had only received permission to travel to Switzerland to play in the competition–and because of the Cuban embargo–they discovered that it would be illegal for them to do so. After more than a year of contemplation, Rodriguez made the difficult decision to leave his family behind–jeopardizing his ability to return to Cuba until he obtained a green card–to make a new home in a country that could offer him the platform he believed he needed to share the message of his music more broadly.

It’s evident that this risk was worth it. During his first tour in China, Rodriguez was asked to work with Tan Dun, Siedah Garrett, and Quincy Jones to compose the English version of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo theme song, becoming the first non-Chinese artist to be bestowed this honor. He’s been featured by All Things Considered, Downbeat, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal, among others, and performed for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert. He has frequented prestigious stages around the world, including at the Playboy Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Jazz in Marciac, Umbria Jazz, and Jazz A Vienne, and has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella for a track from his album The Invasion Parade.

Rodriguez continues to share his music and message of perseverance and cross-culturalization on an international tour, while sharing a variety of viral social media videos in which he plays well-known compositions in a Cuban timba style. These videos have garnered tens of millions of views and directly inspired the recording of his new album, ¡Take Cover!, which was released in January of this year and includes collaborations with longtime creative partner Pedrito Martínez.