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Congaheads: Martin Cohen and Salsa's Jewish Connection
Like with Jazz, American Jews have had an almost century-long love affair with Latin music, dating as far back as the 1940s when immigrants arrived simultaneously from post-war Europe and the Latin Caribbean, sharing a common…
Top 10 Queer Latin Club Tracks
Continuing our celebration of LGBTQ+ History month, we invited El Tuma a London-based DJ and co-founder of the dance party MARICUMBIA, to gives us his list of classic tunes that still rock London’s the queer Latinx club scene.…
Cano Estremera Tunes That Rock the Dancefloor
Cano Estremera, Puerto Rico's unique albino Salsa star, was one of those rare talents that probably deserved more recognition that he got. A controversial figure he was, still incredibly talented when it came to the dying…
Surrogate Latina #5: Sara Mc Guinness, Pianist and Bandleader
In 2018, Sara Mc Guinness was the first non-Latinx to win the LUKAS Musician of the Year. So respected and revered is Sara amongst Latin musicians in the UK that, will very little self-promotion, she garnered the most votes in…
Music City Guide: Medellin
Medellin, the Colombian city ringing with music and undeniably an epicentre of Reggaeton worldwide, with J Balvin, Maluma, Karol G, Camilo and many more Urban artists all born there, has always been a city of music lovers. Not…
Latin Londoner #35: Adriana Cavita, Chef and Food Entrepreneur
Adriana Cavita, the prodigious Mexican chef who previously worked at El Bulli and Pujol, is bringing the authentic flavours of Mexico to London at her debut restaurant, Cavita.
Music City Guide: Bogotá
Over the years, LatinoLife has built up relationships with amazing DJs worldwide, whose passion, knowledge and dedication to music we admire. In the second part of our new series MUSIC CITY GUIDES, where we ask DJs from around…
City Music Guide: Cali
Over the years LatinoLife has built up relationships with amazing DJs around the world; their passion, knowledge and dedication to the music they love we admire. As part of a new series, we decided to ask our friends for the…
Tito Rojas Dies at 65
There are very few salsa artists who had the level of success that Tito Rojas had during the 90s. One of the best selling Latino artists of that decade, he managed to stay relevant until pretty much he passed away a few weeks ago…
Remembering Daniel Santos, Puerto Rican Singer (1916-1992)
Very few singers have been able to combine Puerto Rican and Cuban music to create one single style like Puerto Rican Daniel Santos did. His long connection with the best Cuban music of the 1940s and 50s provided his musical work…
Strength in Music
And the music must go on. We brought together eight of London’s finest Latin bands and artists to record together, some of them for the very first time since lockdown in March, in what proved to be an emotional encounter. All…
Orchesta Guayacán Tunes That Rock The Dance Floor
Orquesta Guayacan is without a doubt one of Colombia's greatest musical institutions. For over 35 years they have been one of the most prolific, consistent and best bands to come out of Cali, not an easy task considering…
Alejo Durán (1919-1989) - Colombia’s first king of Vallenato
Alejo Durán was the first accordion player to win the Leyendas de Vallenato Festival, an event that creates superstars in Colombia. Labourer by day and one of the country's most prolific Vallenato composers and performers by…
Roberto Roena Tunes That Rock the Dance Floor
What can we say about Roberto Roena and his Apollo Sound? Well, he went from dancer to Bongocero to bandleader and mastered all three tasks, becoming one of the most recognised salsa musicians ever. Apart from being the leading…
Issac Delgao Tunes That Rock the Dancefloor
El Chevere de la Salsa (The Cool Dude of Salsa) Issac Delgado is one of Cuba’s top salsa singers and has been at the top of his game since the ’80s with NG La Banda. He has become a reference for Cuban Salsa and has managed to…
Rafael Cortijo - musician, orchestra leader and composer (1928-1982)
There is a before and after in Puerto Rican music and his name is Rafael Cortijo. A self taught percussionist, what Cortijo lacked on musical education he made up in flavour and vision. With his compadre Ismael Rivera, Cortijo…
Tito Nieves Tunes that Rock The Dance Floor
"El Pavarotti de la Salsa" as he is also known, Tito Nieves is one of the best voices of Salsa, no doubt. With a fantastic career that started in the late ’70s, Tito has managed to stay relevant and active, keeping his…
Bola de Nieve (11 September 1911 – 2 October 1971)
Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández, nicknamed Bola de Nieve (snowball) - pianist, singer and songwriter - was one of the most charismatic cultural figures of his times. Black and gay, and self-confident with it, he disarmed his…
Hector Lavoe Tunes That Rock the Dancefloor
And we come to the man simply named 'La Voz' (The Voice). Considered by many as the greatest salsa singer ever, Hector Lavoe was a legend in Latin America, both in life and in death. His voice, charisma, stage presence…
Things That Matter to… Joao del Monte
We came across Joao del Monte a year ago through a video that went viral of him improvising in a bar in Spain with flamenco singer Daniel Peña “Deni.” The music-making chemistry between the two, with Joao mixing in his cuban…
Grupo Tromboranga: The Art of Re-Invention
The Barcelona-based salsa-dura outfit Tromboranga seemingly came out of nowhere when they first exploded onto the music scene in 2011 with hit singles such as ‘Agua que va caer’. From then onwards the group has become the most…
Ismael Rivera Tunes That Rock the Dance Floor
Ismael Rivera, el Sonero Mayor, the most popular salsa singer and the most accomplished sonero of his time! He was the embodiment of Puerto Rican music, Salsa's father figure and an inspiration to singers from NY to Colombia…
Sonora Ponceña Tunes that Rock the Dance Floor
Over 50 years of trajectory and more than 30 albums, la Sonora Ponceña is a Salsa institution. Led by piano virtuoso Papo Lucca, the legendary Puerto Rican orchestra has been also the home of some of the best Salsa singers from…
Beny Moré, Cuban singer (1919-1963)
Regarded by many as the greatest artist in the history of Cuban popular music, the songs and style of Beny Moré feel today as fresh as they did 70 years ago, when he was singing to the dance halls of pre and post-revolutionary…
Luis Enrique Tunes That Rock the Dance Floor
The most famous Nicaraguan singer ever (and one of our all time favourites here at LatinoLife) Luis Enrique surprised the Latin world when in the late 80s he became a major hit-maker across Latin America. Dubbed ‘the Prince of…
Salsa Albums of New York's 'Golden Era'
Over the years there have been so many different types of Salsa that it is impossible to do an over-arching Top Ten Salsa albums. Here are the best of New York's Golden Era. In the following weeks we'll be bringing you…
Celia Cruz Tunes That Rock the Dance Floor
There are so many things to say about Celia Cruz: she was the number 1 Latin-Caribbean singer before, during and after the Salsa boom; she was as good a “sonera” as the greatest “soneros” of her time, her stage precedes was…
Top Ten Latin Music Hits of June
Latino Life comes to show you which tropical songs have the highest popularity during June.
Frankie Ruiz Tunes that Rock the Dancefloor
Making this list we couldn’t stop saying…. ‘this music is SO f#@•ing good!” We can truly say that Frankie Ruiz is one of our all time favourites…few vocalists can boast the level of success of "El Papá de la Salsa.” One of…
Things That Matter To...Mandinga
Hailing from Bucharest, Mandinga have come a long way since representing Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest back in 2012. Integrating the sassy Spanish lead singer Bárbara Isasi, this energetic, funky Tropical-Urban fusion…
La Lupe, Singer (1936-1992)
With a voice initially described as “screaming, disorderly and disrespectful,” heroic was so evocative it provoked some strong reactions but came to be regarded as one of the best Latin vocalists of her generation. She wept, bit…
Jose 'El Canario' Tunes That Rock the Dance Floor
We travel to La Republica Dominicana and bring you arguable the best Salsa singers the island has ever produced///Jose Alberto 'El Canario'. With a career that goes back to the early 70’s and he is still rocking it!…
Oscar D'Leon Tracks that Rock the Dance Floor
One of the most important salsa singers ever, the Caracas-born ‘Sonero del Mundo’ has the whole package: as a sonero, he's up there with legends such as Hector Lavoe, Ismael Rivera or Beny Moré and, just as importantly,…
VAN VAN Tracks That Rock the Dancefloor
Call it Salsa or Songo, Los Van Van is the most iconic post-revolution Cuban band. They combine that high-octane, adrenaline-fuelling energy driven by their salsa cum funk rythmns, and the sweetness of their melodies provided by…
El Gran Combo Tracks That Rock the Dance Floor
We pay homage to El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, arguably the world's most popular Latin band ever. Filling dance floors around the globe for almost 60 years, It's is much more than a salsa band, but a cultural…
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HEARTSONGS
Lila Downs is back – with not one but Dos Corazones – a new song which she will be debuting live in…
Urban
Reggaeton Revolution: 20 years of UK Urban Latin Culture
Back in 2004, when the UK music industry was ignoring reggaetón and Maluma was in nappies,…
Brazilian Music
Things That Matter… Jards Macalé
Having worked with some of the biggest names in Brazilian music, including Joao Donato, Gal Costa,…
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Ballads and Boleros
Top Ten Mexican Male Singers of all Time
Since the days when Mexico was a serious rival to Hollywood in terms of film production and quality…
Urban
Top 10 Female Reggaeton Artists
We may have come a long way since the days of overt misogyny in Urban Latin Music, but the industry…
