Alfredo Manuel De La Fe, a Cuban-born violinist, was born February 6, 1954 in Havana. He is also known as Alfredo Manuel De La Fe. De La Fe was the first solo violinist to perform in a Salsa band. He has performed more than 30 times around the globe, including appearances in concert and participation in over 100 albums by top-ranked Latin artists such as Eddie Palmieri and Tito Puente. Alfredo, his second solo album, was released in 1979 and received a Grammy nomination for “Best Latin Album”. Alfredo was a child prodigy. His father, Bienvenido Leon, a singer in Havana, Cuba, who sang on Cuban radio in the 1940s with Celia Cruz and Bienvenido Leon, recognized his talents and encouraged him to be a musician. De La Fe started studying violin at Amadeo Roldan Conservatory, Havana, in 1962. He was awarded a scholarship to the Warsaw Conservatory in Poland two years later. He performed compositions by Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 1965. He was awarded a scholarship to Juilliard Arts to continue his studies. De La Fe began his professional career at twelve years old when he switched to Salsa music from classical music and was invited to join Jose Fajardo’s Orchestra, charanga legend. He joined Eddie Palmieri’s Orchestra in 1972. After a brief time, he left the group and moved to San Francisco, where he joined Santana. De La Fe returned to New York and joined Tipica ’73, in 1977. His debut solo album Alfredo was released two years later. De La Fe signed in 1980 with Sars All Stars and produced 32 albums for the Latin label. The same year, De La Fe released Charanga ’80, his second solo album. De La Fe was appointed musical director of Tito Puente’s Latin Percussion Jazz Ensemble in 1981. He signed with Taboga the following year to resume his solo career. For Taboga, he recorded Triunfo. De La Fe moved to Colombia in 1983 and signed with Philips. He released three albums – Made in Colombia and Dancing in the Tropics – before the end of the 1980s. De La Fe moved to Fuentes in 1989. De La Fe remained a solo artist even though he was a member of the Fania All-Stars band in 1995. In 1997, he signed with Sony Music. He toured Europe with his own band two years later. They appeared at festivals in Belgium, France, Turkey, Denmark and Holland. After several years spent in Europe, Alfredo returned to New York, where he toured the US with his New York-based band, which was led by pianist Israel Tanenbaum. Maximo Rodriguez was also a bass player, as well as Tony Escapa, Little Johnny Rivero and Andrea Brachfeld, who were percussionists. From Wikipedia
