Raul Paz

Raul Paz was born in 1969 in Pinar del Rio, Cuba. He left Cuba in 1996, travelled in South America, and eventually arrived in France, where he studied classical music at the Conservatoire de Paris and learned the violin, singing, harmony and conducting.

Soon, at Paris clubs, such as the New Morning, Hot Brass, Bataclan, and Elysée Montmartre, he was sharing the spotlight with other Afro-Cuban musician passing through the city. As member of the Latino and African musical community based in France, Raul became one of the leaders of the ‘Cuban wave’.

When Ralph Mercado heard Raul Paz’s voice in 1998, amongst the well-established salsa stars, he immediately decided to promote this ‘French Cubano’. That same year, Raul Paz recorded his first album ‘Imaginate’. This album was a hit in the US and Raul Paz was awarded the Best New Male Singer Award by the New York music press.

In 2001, Ralph Mercado Music shut down. Open to new sounds and techniques, and interested in the fusion of genres, Paz moved towards electro music.

Raul met producer Mousse T. and, working with his team at the Hanover Pepermint studios, mixed his next album, which had been previously recorded in Cuba. The DJ’s groove added a lot to the richness and quality of the melodies. ‘Mulata’, his last album released in 2003, consists of a mix of Cuban instruments and samples from Hanover.