Alex Cuba has a mind as sharp as the pointed whiskers he sports with his Afro, and he delivers some of hottest Cuban music outside Havana—the city, not the restaurant on Commercial Drive.

The pride of Smithers, B.C., where he’s lived for many years, has four albums and a Latin Grammy under his belt, and plays intelligent Latin pop, Cuban world music, and rock with a jazz foundation. Catch Cuba at the Creekside Community Recreation Centre as part of the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival on False Creek this Friday (June 20). It’s just what you need to think, drink, dance, and groove along to, partly because it’s guaranteed to be hot no matter what the weather.