Cutting Cane - George Noriega

» George Noriega's Biography

With more than a handful of Grammy® nominations and a myriad of Billboard top ten Hits, George has achieved a reputation as a successful songwriter/producer with the ability to crossover many different genres with ease. In 2000, he received Grammy® Award for Best Latin/Tropical Producer for his work on Gloria Estefan’s “Alma Caribeña”. In 2004 he received a Latin Grammy® nomination for Record of the Year as Producer of the darker, sultry art/pop track “Mas Y Mas” by Robi Draco Rosa. He has been a producer and/or songwriter on albums that have sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

George’s list of collaborations is the “Who’s Who” of the music industry: Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Shakira, Robi “Draco” Rosa, Desmond Child, Timbaland, Scott Storch, Brett James, Phil Ramone, Emilio Estefan, Jennifer López, Jon Secada, Billy Mann, renowned songwriting team The Matrix and Greg Alexander... to name a few. Clearly, he is not afraid to dabble in different genres and most recently has jumped into what may be one of his most challenging – yet rewarding – projects: working alongside Joel Someillan as part of the production and writing team known as JOLLIPOP. Jollipop is a children’s entertainment production company which has developed music for Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go and many other projects for Nickelodeon TV and Film for over three years.

Alumnus of the University of Miami, George graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music. Immediately following graduation, he landed a gig as background vocalist for Gloria Estefan’s “Evolution” World Tour. By the end of that tour, George was hired by Estefan Enterprises as a songwriter/producer.

Four years later, 1999’s “She’s All I Ever Had” (“Bella”), written and produced by Noriega, Secada and Rosa, and interpreted by Ricky Martin, went Platinum and hit #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Latin Tracks charts . The follow-up theme, “Shake Your Bon Bon,” was also written and produced by Noriega and Rosa along with Desmond Child, and became a smash hit and coined the phrase all over the world. The full length CD debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Chart and has sold nearly 15 million copies worldwide.

Success continued to be on George’s side as he teamed up with Emilio Estefan and Robert Blades to write and produce Gloria Estefan’s Grammy®-winning CD “Alma Caribeña”, which immediately went to #1 on the Billboard Latin 50. The production team’s first two singles “No Me Dejes de Querer” and “Como Me Duele Perderte” also topped the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart at #1.

By 2001, Noriega was already established as one of Estefan Enterprises’ most prolific songwriters and producers. He wrote and produced with Shakira for her highly successful English language debut – “Laundry Service” - which to this day has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. During 2002 and early 2003 he teamed up once again with Robi “Draco” Rosa to write and produce ten tracks for his groundbreaking, Grammy®-winning album “Mad Love”.

2005 saw the release of another Noriega production: Ricky Martin’s English-language album “Life,” which found George collaborating with Scott Storch, Fat Joe and Sean Garrett. George has also kept busy with new tracks for King James (Fuerte Group), Karina Pasian (Def Jam), Howie Dorough-Backstreet Boys (Jive), Alejandra Guzman (Sony BMG) and Lilian Garcia (WWE/Universal) due out in September of 2007.

Today, Noriega is looking to expand his many talents and to continue creating music that crosses genres and creates new ones. 2007 is bringing new ventures to this great artist, including collaborating with and producing many well-known artists as well as discovering new talent through his Cutting Cane Productions/Publishing Co. Headquartered at his 2 acre Ranch in South Florida, the complex is also home to the 1400 sq. ft. state of the art Cutting Cane Studios.

“This is more than a place of work. This studio is a haven for creativity and muse. That is why I was involved in every detail of the construction process,” states Noriega. Under the Cutting Cane umbrella, George heads a growing publishing company and other multimedia projects in addition to the production company and studio.

“There is a lot of talent out there, people who are looking to create something new and fertile from the ground up without rules or restriction. Those are the people I am looking for and for them I created Cutting Cane.”