Alfredo De La Fé

Alfredo De La Fé is a Cuban-born and New York-based violinist who lived in Colombia for more than 16 years and is responsible for transforming the violin into an important sound of Salsa, Latin Jazz and Latin music in general. The first solo violinist to perform with a Salsa orchestra, De La Fe has toured the world more than thirty times, appearing in concert and participating in more than one hundred albums by such top-ranked Latin artists as Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Tipica 73, José Alberto “El Canario”, Cheo Feliciano, The Fania All-Stars, Dave Valentin, Dizzy Gillespie and Santana to name a few. His second solo album, Alfredo, released in 1979, received a Grammy nomination as “Best Latin album”.

De La Fé began studying violin at the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory in Havana in 1962. Two years later, he received a scholarship to attend the Warsaw Conservatory in Poland. In 1965, he performed compositions by Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in Carnegie Hall. A scholarship to Juilliard Arts enabled him to further his studies. De La Fé launched his professional career, at the age of twelve, when he switched from classical music to Salsa and accepted an invitation to join charanga legend José Fajardo’s Orchestra. In 1972, he joined Eddie Palmieri’s Orchestra. He remained with the group for a very short period, moving temporarily to San Francisco where he joined Santana. Returning to New York, De La Fé joined Tipica ’73 in 1977. Two years later, he released his debut solo album, Alfredo.