Axel Tosca Laugart

Cuban-born pianist Axel Tosca Laugart is a dynamic performer known for his genre-bending mix of jazz, Latin, and other sounds. The son of musicians, Laugart grew up playing in Cuba before moving to the United States in 2005 to play with <a href="spotify:artist:11kBu957KTYoAltZHDm8gW">Buena Vista Social Club</a> timbalero <a href="spotify:artist:29zs3dt9hJeHPzw0M4Pi4D">Amadito Valdez</a> in Las Vegas. Based in New York, he has earned plaudits playing in clubs and with his own (U)nity band. In 2018, he issued his debut solo album, Axel Tosca Laugart.

Born in Cuba in 1985, Laugart grew up in a musical family. His mother is renowned singer <a href="spotify:artist:4C3ax8mSSUyYEGxzW3e7MO">Xiomara Laugart</a> and his father is singer-guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3fKe0YLZ6WxdFRUXJCLMPb">Albert Tosca</a>. Introduced to guitar at age four, Laugart was also playing piano by age seven, and soon joined his parents on-stage playing his first show at Casa de las Americas. Along with performing with his parents he attended music school, and gained a wide range of experiences playing with groups like Dennis & Swing, <a href="spotify:artist:5cvnQ2gtwZraxeE99Y8aOg">the Afro-Cuban All Stars</a>, Bobby Carcases, <a href="spotify:artist:2iDDLJVeK7H4DW79ZFjhLT">Teresa Garcia Caturla</a>, Jose Miguel Crego, and more. Along with classical music, jazz, and Latin traditions, he also discovered hip-hop, and played with <a href="spotify:artist:78xUyw6FkVZrRAtziFdtdu">the Roots</a> when they toured Cuba.

In 2005, he came to the United States, joining longtime mentor and <a href="spotify:artist:11kBu957KTYoAltZHDm8gW">Buena Vista Social Club</a> timbalero <a href="spotify:artist:29zs3dt9hJeHPzw0M4Pi4D">Amadito Valdez</a> in a stage show that ran for two years in Las Vegas. From there, Laugart based himself in New York, and further honed his skills studying jazz at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary. He also launched his own band, (U)nity, playing a richly cross-pollinated blend of jazz. In 2018, he released his debut album, the eponymous Axel Tosca Laugart. Included were guest appearances by saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:0NlX1W0yjS9FWyDBbHcGuY">Ron Blake</a>, drummer <a href="spotify:artist:0hZXvDnljkma4aThiBMQ6h">Jeff "Tain" Watts</a>, bassist James Genus, percussionist <a href="spotify:artist:3Yd5AAZM2MieLiXoq8anxG">Luisito Quintero</a>, and others. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi