Alex Cuba’s “Agua Del Ponzo” has been making the rounds since it released last year, but unlike most albums that have weathered being a summer iPod staple, it’s showing few signs of wear. Even now, listening to the teasingly soulful “Si Pero No” still makes folks groove like they’re beachside in the mid-30s C.

Cuba left Cuba and a respectable bass career to find his, well, voice as a vocalist in Canada. Along the way, he also found a hip pair of bellbottoms and a banging afro, which have become like a trademark to his ’70s-inflected sound.

Now, Cuba has left Canada for the U.S., at least temporarily. Check him out on tour now with a stop in New York tonight at Joe’s Pub or catch him back in Toronto mid-June.

TRACE: Coming from a family of Cuban musicians and then finding your own voice in Canada, have you found different ideas of music — and what it should do — in different countries?
Alex Cuba: Maybe people are more open to experimenting than what I remember from Cuba. There, everybody knows what a trio is and what it should sound like. Here, people will experiment with different instruments and genres.

T: Where does your music comes from?
AC: It comes from being exposed to many different kinds of music since I was born.

T: Who inspires you?
AC: Whoever is doing something original.