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Llamadas desde Moscú (Calls from Moscow) by Cuban director Luis Alejandro Yero
In the ‘Minds’ strand of the BFI Flare Festival 2024, the documentary ‘CALLS FROM MOSCOW’ is the story of four young Cuban immigrants, who find themselves stuck in Moscow, just one day before the invasion of Ukraine. Lost,…
Things That Matter to…Harold Lopez Nussa
Recently signed to Blue Note Records, Harold started piano when he was eight years old in Havana, Cuba. After graduating from the Instituto Superior de Artes, he toured with Omara Portuondo and in 2003, worked with the Cuban…
She Who Demands the Stage
Diva is the Latin word for goddess and Cuban-Spanish singer, Lucy Calcines, became just that when her performance on The Voice UK in 2020 raised the studio to its feet, got four judges turning and became the most streamed…
Finding Freedom
After a decade as one of the most sought-after salsa musicians in Europe, Rene Alvarez is embarking on a long-life dream of fusing his Afro-Cuban heritage with his love of North American funk. His new band, Alvarez Funk, departs…
Things That Matter to...Alfredo Rodríguez
Widely considered to be one of the most gifted and exciting jazz pianists of his generation, Alfredo Rodríguez’s high-octane, warm and joyous musicianship won him at first the mentorship of Quincy Jones then a Grammy nomination.…
Remembering...Pablo Milanés (1943-2022)
Where Poetry and patriotism meet sublime musicality. Any Latin American will know the angelic voice of one of Cuba's most well known singer-song writers, who stands tall amidst a plethora of Cuban musical legends. Love songs…
Films To Watch Before You Die #8 - Strawberry and Chocolate (Fresas y Chocolate) Cuba 1993
In celebration of LGBT History Month, we remember one of the most memorable queer films in Latin American film history. Strawberry and Chocolate is a delightful 1993 film by Cuban directors Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos…
The Global Adventures of Paquito D’Rivera
From child prodege in Havana to one of the greatest Latin jazz artists of our times, we pay tribute to the great Cuban musician and all round renaissance man.
TIMBA’S TRIUMPHANT RETURN
Those who were enjoying Eliane Correa and su Evolución at this weekend's LatinoLife in the Park, are no doubt are fans of Maykel Blanco - today's bonafide guru Cuban Timba. Lucky for them, for the first time in six…
Postcard from...Havana: Family at a Crossroads
It’s been a busy and sad week in our Cuban household. Danay and Osvaldo, two married younger members of this small Cuban family are leaving the country tomorrow to make a new life for themselves in Argentina, where Danay’s Cuban…
A Night Out With Rapzodia
Our man in Havana takes us on a bus journey (literally) into the post-Covid nights of Havana to discover the best Cuban acts coming out of lockdown. First stop, a sizzling evening with Rapzodia, an electrifying blend of hip hop,…
Films to Watch Before You Die: #1 Memories of Underdevelopment
In the first in our series on Latin American Films to Watch Before You Die, Marianna Civitillo takes a look back on 1960s post-revolution Cuba with 'Memorias del Subdesarrollo' (Memories of Underdevelopment) by Tomás…
'City of a Thousand Trades', 'Imminent' and the 'Chacona'
Consisting of a 3 piece performance, including the works 'City of a Thousand Trades', 'Imminent', and the 'Chacona', a new piece curated by Carlos Acosta, this enjoyable and thought-provoking triple…
"I couldn't have made this film if I wasn't Latino"
In the 1950s, when the Democratic Republic of the Congo was a Belgian colony, a generation of Congolese musicians fused traditional African rhythms with Afro-Cuban music to create the electrifying beat of Congolese rumba - a beat…
Top 10 Salsa Hits of the Noughties
As lovers of Salsa here at LatinoLife, we've been loving putting together a Top 10 series on Salsa Hits of the decades, from the golden era of the 70s, through salsa romantica and erotica of the 80s, the big hitters of the…
Strawberry and Chocolate (Fresas y chocolate- Cuba 1993)
Strawberry and Chocolate is a delightful 1993 film by Cuban directors Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabio. It is being screened as part of the CASA FESTIVAL 2021 which will run throughout September 2021. The festival…
Top 10 90s Salsa Hits (part 2)
Last week, as part of our series on salsa hits of the decades, we brought you our selection of the best '90s salsa, with artists like Luis Enrique, Tito Rojas, Victor Manuelle, Jerry Rivera, DLG and Orchestra Guayacan. But…
Top 10 '90s Salsa Hits (part 1)
In this third episode of our series of Salsa hits from the 70s to the present day, before bachata and reggaeton took hold, this week we bring you our pick of the biggest Latin dancefloor hits of the 1990s. By the '90s salsa…
Latin Jazz Next Gen
Unlike other music, Jazz musicians get better with age. In Jazz linguistics, at 40, you’re a toddler just starting to talk! The following artists have pricked up our ears with their exciting new sounds. Both blessed and burdened…
Top 10 Female Salsa Singers
Salsa music may be known as a tool to seduce women, but the flow swings the other way too. In a male dominated genre, these women have held their own as the rare voices of salsa, greatest soneras who bewitched audiences and…
Phil Manzanera: Songs That Made Me
After being the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, one of the most iconic British Prog-Rock bands of the 1970s and 80s, led by Brian Ferry and including Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera went on to produce albums for Pink Floyd, David…
The Wonderful World of Afro-Reggaeton
Why are Reggaeton and Afro-beat collaborations taking over the world, and why should you care? We explore how the current explosion of reggaetón afro-beat fusions is the latest expression of a long and rich history of African and…
Top 10 Latin American Sportswomen
Forget Guillermo Vilas, Gustavo Kuerten or Juan Martin del Potro, did you know that Latin America’s most successful tennis player - World No. 1,19 Grand Slam titles, including three Wimbledon singles crowns - was a woman? And yet…
Pioneering Black Latina Artists
Recently we published a list of Black Heroines of Latin American History, Afro-Latinas who put their lives at risk, and in some cases gave their lives, in order to shape our history. This week we bring you the brave women who…
Black Heroes of Modern Latin America
A few months ago we brought you black heroes of Colonial Latin America - leaders and fighters who defied the prejudices against them and demanded change, freedom and racial justice, whether through slave rebellion or fighting the…
Queer Films from Spain and Latin America
Celebrating LGBTQ+ History month, here are some films from Latin American and Spanish directors celebrating queerness that we love and we thought you would too.
“The Birth of Latin Jazz was simultaneous to the Birth of Jazz”
Associate Professor of Music at Columbia University, Chris Washburne is one of the world’s leading academics on both jazz and Latin music and a respected musician in his own right, having played with many of the artists he writes…
Remembering, Mongo Santamaría, Cuban Percussionist (1917-2003)
Mongo Santamaria is arguably the best Conguero ever! Part of that generation of Cuban percussionists who emigrated to the States in the 40s and 50s, Mongo had a fantastic career, recording crossover hits, releasing critically…
Things You Should Know About...Latin Jazz pioneers
Latin Jazz or Jazz Latino…the Latino “tinge” was part of American Jazz DNA from day one but somehow has been, at best, perceived as a sub-genre or, at worst, erased from history books. When Cuban musicians arrived in Harlem in…
Black Heroines of Latin American History
Being an female activist meant putting your life at risk, being a black female activist was a probable death sentence, yet these courageous women took that risk, and gave their lives in some cases, in order to shape our history.…
Indigenous Heroes and Heroines of Colonial Latin America
In celebration of Indigenous Peoples' Day, a day which began as a counter-celebration to el Dia de la Raza or 'Columbus Day' (still shamefully celebrated in Spain and the US to celebrate the colonisation and…
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…
10 Black Heroes of Colonial Latin America
Many of these heroic figures in the building of Latin America were confined to the anals of history. It wasn’t easy to find them, but once we started digging we found so many that we have only been able to mention a few. All…
Things You Should Know about...Jazz Greats of Latin America
Recently we produced a list of Latin Jazz greats, but many of the finest Jazz musicians from Latin America use neither la clave, nor the ostinato patterns nor the afro-cuban rythmns that we associate with Latin Jazz. The…
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…
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