Alex Acuña

Alejandro Neciosup Acuña aka Alex Acuña (born December 12, 1944) is a Peruvian drummer and percussionist, in the Afro-Cuban jazz style.

Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands from the age of ten, and moved to Lima as a teenager. At the age of eighteen he joined the band of Perez Prado, and in 1967 he moved to Puerto Rico. In 1974 Acuña moved to Las Vegas, working with artists such as Elvis Presley and Diana Ross, and the following year he joined the jazz-fusion group Weather Report, appearing on the albums Black Market and Heavy Weather. Acuña left Weather Report in 1978, and became a session musician in California, recording and playing live with (amongst many others) Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Ella Fitzgerald, Jim Walker, Chick Corea, Whitney Houston, Plácido Domingo, Phil Keaggy, Sergeant Petter, Sam Phillips, former Weather Report bandmates Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Beck, Roberta Flack, U2, Al Jarreau and Don Moen (singer). He can be found on recordings by musicians as culturally diverse as Javier Malosetti, Lee Ritenour, Peter Gabriel, Johnny Clegg, Robbie Robertson, Jackson Browne and Flavio Sala.

In the 1980s Acuña also recorded and toured with the Christian jazz band Koinonia, which featured session musicians Abraham Laboriel, Justo Almario, Hadley Hockensmith, Harlan Rogers, and Bill Maxwell. He played on Willy DeVille's Crow Jane Alley album and in 1987 he teamed up with Elvis Presley's TCB Band for the Roy Orbison TV special "A Black and White Night". He played percussion on Blondie's number one hit "The Tide Is High".

He has also worked as an educator at University of California, Los Angeles and Berklee College of Music.

Selected discography

 * (1976) Black Market - Weather Report
 * (1977) Heavy Weather - Weather Report
 * (1979) No One Home - Lalo Schifrin
 * (1980) Salsa Picante - Clare Fischer - tmbales, latin percussion
 * (1981) Clare Fischer & Salsa Picante Present "2 + 2" - Clare Fischer
 * (1981) Machaca - Clare Fischer - tambora, drums, timbales, percussion and bongos
 * (1985) Lyle Mays - Drums and percussion
 * (1985) Atlantis - Wayne Shorter - Drums
 * (1989) Kilowatt - Kazumi Watanabe - Percussion
 * (1987) Walkin' on Air - Bobbysocks! - Percussion
 * (1992) Thinking of You - Alex Acuña and the Unknowns
 * (1992) Worship with Don Moen - Don Moen - Percussion
 * (1992) Out of the Cradle - Lindsey Buckingham - Percussion
 * (1992) F-Zero Jazz Album - Percussion
 * (1993) Rejoice Africa - Lionel Peterson - Percussion
 * (1993) We Are One - Tom Inglis - Percussion
 * (1994) Trust in the Lord - Live Worship with Don Moen - Don Moen - Drums and Percussion
 * (1994) God Is Able - Ron Kenoly - Drums and Percussion
 * (1994) As For My House - Rick and Cathy Riso - Percussion
 * (1995) Men In Worship - Jack Hayford - Percussion
 * (1995) Sing Out with One Voice - Ron Kenoly - Percussion
 * (2000) Acuarela de Tambores - Alex Acuña (Grammy nominee)
 * (2002) Los Hijos del Sol: To My Country - Alex Acuña
 * (2005) No accent - Alex Acuña and the Unknowns
 * (2011) Heritage - Opeth - Percussion on 'Famine'
 * (2012) ¡Ritmo! – The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band (Directed by Brent Fischer) - drums, percussion

Equipment
Gon Bops Percussion
 * Alex Acuna Special Edition Congas
 * Alex Acuna Signature Timbales
 * Alex Acuna Special Edition Cajon
 * Alex Acuna Signature Cajon
 * Alex Acuna Special Edition Bongos
 * Alex Acuna Bells

Awards

 * Best Latin/Brazilian Percussionist, Modern Drummer's Readers Poll.