Alex Cuba: Water from the Well (Agua del Pozo).

Alex Cuba

Water from the Well (Agua del Pozo)

Caracol Records 77609 81920 25

(bn.com or myspace.com/alexcuba)

The young singer-songwriter Alex Cuba was born Alexis Puentes in western Cuba but now lives with his Canadian wife and family in the frigid climes of tiny Smithers, British Columbia, where the recent Disney sled-dog movie Eight Below was filmed. Despite his present address, he creates warmly emotional, tropical music that is still inspired by deities from the Afro-Cuban pantheon.

Water from the Well is dedicated to Elegua, Alex Cuba's orisha, or spirit, in the Santeria religious system, who protects travelers, oversees crossroads, and holds power over fortune and misfortune. In the song "Religious Celebration" (Fiesta Religion), Alex asks a diviner if his dreams will come true:

"A man who offered to confront my problems with his Elegua and Chango [Yoruba god of thunder and lightning] . . . read the shells like poetry."

The reader of magical omens in seashells informs the singer:

"You have problems because your desires are confused. Keep playing music the way you want, always from the heart, and you can never go wrong."

Following this soothsayer's advice, Water from the Well is a seductive message of gentle love and spiritual growth, backed by a typically Cuban ensemble including bongos, congas, and the double-headed bata drum, typically used in religious rites by worshippers of

Cuban Santeria.