El Noro y 1ra Clase Europe 2017

El Noro y 1ra Clase begin their 2017 tour of Europe next Thursday June 15th at Cabaret Sauvage in Paris. I'm excited because I will get to see the band live for the first time on Friday June 16th in Stockholm! Note: If you're planning to go to the Stockholm concert, buy your tickets in advance because they will not be sold at the door. Click here for the concert dates .

For those of you who have only recently come to timba, here is a short retrospective of El Noro's career. Although he began singing with Doble Impacto, I first met Norisley Valladares "El Noro" in 2007 when he was with Maykel Blanco. His distinctive voice, charismatic stage presence and trademark blond spikes made him instantly recognizable. During his time with Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor, El Noro became a household name among timba fans around the world.

Cuba took note and in December 2007 during a Salsa Mayor national tour, El Noro received a call from Manolito Simonet asking him to join the Trabuco as replacement for Sixto Llorente "El Indio". Honestly, replacing a master-sonero like El Indio is not an easy position to be in, but I went to the second concert El Noro did after joining El Trabuco and was very impressed when the time came for him to sing "Marcando la distancia". He really was able to pull it off, and during his time with Manolito, he also tried his hand at composing. One of his signature songs from that period is "La bomba". Here is El Noro performing "La Bomba" with Manolito in Rome in 2008.

In 2009 none other than César "Pupy" Pedroso invited El Noro to join Los Que Son Son. Here he sang updated versions of "Ni bombones, ni caramelos" and "Parece mentira" and many hits such as "Un loco con una moto", "Seis semanas" and "Dicen que dicen" as well as some of his own compositions: "No te deje por mala", "Esta es mi música" and "La preferencia".

On October 20, 2013 after nearly 4 years with Pupy y Los Que Son Son, El Noro decided to take a big risk and start his own orchestra. Now he could establish his own sello reinterpreting his hits and creating a new repertoire according to his personal musical tastes.

The first CD by El Noro y 1ra Clase - "Sin escalas" - was released in 2015 and was awarded "Best Dance Music - New Talent" at Cubadisco 2016. The album includes a couple of his previous hits "La bomba" feat. Alexander Abreu and "La preferencia", as well as ten new compositions. He chose to only use his own compositions for the first CD.

El Noro has not been idle since then and a new CD is in the works. He has also begun working with other composers. You can find some of his other songs at YouTube such as "3 con 2", "Estoy en 0", "Música diferente", "Pa' lo mal hecho" and "Cinturita."

Summary: For the past ten years El Noro has been one of the most popular and recognizable young singers in Cuba. His career path took him through three important Cuban bands where he learned from each bandleader. His orchestra - 1ra Clase - has already received honors from the Cuban music industry and has completed successful tours of Europe and Peru. If you get the chance to see the band live, don't miss it! I wont!

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