Other top performers who took that plunge before Delgado -- notably singers Carlos Manuel and Manolin, nicknamed the Salsa Doctor -- have seen their careers suddenly tank. They burned their bridges by condemning the Cuban government, only to be rejected by audiences in their adopted homeland.
This musical drama has been playing out for more than 20 years, but it still hurts to see such great Cuban talent get marooned on the unforgiving shores of capitalism. Beyond that, it has been a severe disappointment to see the enormous promise of Cuba's astounding contemporary music scene simply collapse, partly because the music never got a strong foothold in the United States, a market Cubans came to covet at the expense of their once gloriously independent sense of creativity.
There was so much at stake, since some of us considered the Cubans as saviors of salsa, the Afro-Caribbean dance genre that had gone bland and mushy after the thrilling New York-based boom of the 1970s. We cringed every time one of our favorite stars fled from Havana and fell flat on his face in trying to translate his success to a new world.
Now, it's up to Delgado to overcome the curse of exile. In this quest, he faces another capricious and tyrannical master -- the free market.
"I feel like I'm starting again from zero," said Delgado, who has put together a multinational, 13-piece band for his U.S. tour.
I've been following Delgado's career since my first visit to Cuba in 1988, when Havana was still an austere and surreal Soviet outpost. That same year, a new band emerged from the colorless communist environment, one destined to revolutionize Cuban music with a frenetic dance style called \o7timba\f7, a dense and complex fusion of salsa, jazz and funk. The group was NG La Banda, and it featured the smooth vocals of Delgado.
Though cultural comparisons are often ridiculous, Delgado can be likened to Frank Sinatra insofar as the Cuban singer also keeps his cool over a swinging big band and croons with jazzy phrasings on romantic numbers.
Delgado's vocal style comes through clearly on his latest album, "En Primera Plana" (On the e Front Page), released domestically by Univision's La Calle imprint. It's a stellar recording, co-produced by Delgado and Sergio George, who created Marc Anthony's successful New York salsa sound.
