
JESSE & JOY (East West Records)
This is the album that won Jesse & Joy, the Mexican brother and sister duo, their first US Grammy for best Latin pop album in February this year. It’s also their first to feature songs in English, some of which have already…
Argentina: Forty years of the ‘Mad Mothers’
April 30 marked the 40th anniversary of the foundation in Argentina of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo. Some of them are still searching for their disappeared loved ones.
The Turbulence of Budding Stardom
Once a mere suburban boy from outside Barcelona, now Spain’s representative at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, via a controversial decision that split the country, Latinolife talks to Manel Navarro, as he prepares for his…
A Film Guy named Jean Jean
In the past, the Panama Film Festival has attracted director greats such as Karim Aïnouz (Brazil) and Pablo Trapero (Argentina), and actors Ricardo Darín (Argentina) and Édgar Ramírez (Venezuela). This year it was a tall,…
LATIN LONDONER #21.....Omar Puente - Jazz Musician
Jazz violinist and 2017 LUKAS winner, Omar Puente, has performed to audiences worldwide. First violinist at the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra before leaving Cuba in 1997, he toured with Buena Vista’s Ruben Gonzales all over…
LATIN HOTLIST #5 - SPRING 2017
Think Latin, Feel Latin, Buy Latin...here's our choice of great Latin products on the market this Spring
Philippe Baden Powell: Notes Over Poetry (Far Out Recordings)
New era Brazilian Jazz rooted in its history
Explosive Alegría
It would seem that anything Gente de Zona touches turns to gold. Whether it’s putting Enrique Iglesias back at the top of the charts, or keeping Marc Anthony relevant, everyone who’se anyone in music goes to this Cuban Reggeatón…
Things we love about... Magical Mexico City
Built on the ruins of the ancient Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, Mexico City has mushroomed into the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world. A melting pot of all that makes Mexico great - food, drinks, art and music - and…
Eliane Elias: Dance of Time (Concord Jazz)
Eliane Elias breathes new life into samba in her latest album - a celebration not only of this uniquely Brazilian sound, but also of her collaboration with musicians who have played an important role in her career.
For the Love of Plantain
Pioneering Pan-Latin chef and restauranteur, Esnayder Cuartas, declares his love for this over-sized banana.
Sembrando Cultura: This is How We do It!
Maria Luna, a Dominican American residing in London, speaks to four Latinas in the United States, Scotland and England to find out what it means to be a Latina and how a Latina maintains or compromises her culture when she starts…
Paradise City by Joe Thomas (Arcadia Books)
American style 'noir' set in South America's biggest megatropolis - a lonely cop's battle with corruption, despair, and his own demons makes for an enthralling Sao Paulo thriller.
Mexico's Ranchera-Pop Anti-Diva
Blending traditional Mexican ranchera sounds with elements of the Pop and Rock she grew up with in Tijuana, Julieta Venega first landed on the Mexican Rock scene in the nineties and has since won a Grammy, been nominated for two…
Venezuela Reconstructed
The winner of two 2017 LUKAS (Musician and Alternative Act of the Year) Ernesto Marichales is making waves on the London music scene with his daring and experimental re-arranging of traditional Venezuelan music. Performing with…
Brazil: the flesh is weak but the meat is rotten
Police investigations reveal another massive web of corruption involving Brazil's strategic meat industry, inspectors and politicians
Between Poetry and Politics - an interview with Gael García Bernal
GAEL GARCÍA BERNAL gets on a roll about poetry, fascism, idealism and power as he talks to Latinolife about the times we live in…oh, and his latest film, NERUDA.
Neruda (2016) Dir. Pablo Larrain
The latest Chilean addition to a great Latin American tradition of highly entertaining political thrillers, or 'Latin Noir' as the genre is now known. Neruda, focuses on the the arrest warrant issued in 1948 for the…
Between Politics, Poetry and Fantasy: Pablo Neruda as Thriller
NERUDA, an original take on a biopic of the renowned Chilean poet Pablo Neruda by Pablo Larraín, is being release in the UK in April, 2017. Much anticipated, fans of Pablo Larrain’s creative films will not be disappointed. Very…
COSMIC CONNECTIONS
Patricia Diaz describes herself as a migrant storyteller, for she has lived longer in London than in her native Colombia. Her debut novel ‘The Golden Bat’ touches on the tragic events of the 1985 Nevado del Ruiz volcano eruption…
Top Ten Nicky Jam Tracks
One of Puerto Rico's most talented Reggaetóneros, Nicky Jam rose to fame along with the likes of Daddy Yankee, but his career took a dive after a bad run with drugs and criminal misdemeanours. While his peers were becoming…
The Films of Armando Bó
In the first of our 'Memorable Film' series on Latin America and Spain’s most memorable films and directors, Latinolife’s film editor, Corina Poore, profiles the ground-breaking Argentine director Armando Bó
“Fenix” Nicky Jam (Sony Music)
Reggaetón pioneer who sprung to global fame with his first album “Diferente a Los Demás” and consolidated his success in 2015 with “El Perdón” ("Forgiveness"), delivers another classic.
Cupuaçu: Brazil's Alternative to Chocolate
Forget cocoa, meet cupuaçu, a brand new contender in the arena of chocolate substitutes.
Aquarius (2017 Dir. Kleber Filho Mendonça)
A richly painted portrait of Brazilian society, of corporate greed and, ultimately, of a woman of a certain age.
In Search of the New Brazil
The Brazilian film 'Aquarius' received rave reviews following its World Premiere at Cannes where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or, the Cannes Jury Prize, and the Cannes Grand Prix. Just as captivating for the world’s…
'Yo amanecí' Andres Landero (Vampisoul)
A fantastic compilation of Colombia's King of Cumbia
La Tortuga de Darwin @ Cervantes Theatre
A delightful, thoughtful and hugely comical experience at the innovative Spanish Theatre initiative in Southwark
TOP TEN Bachata Artists
With its hypnotic beat and heart-renching melodies, this Dominican music began to take the world by storm when Urban Latin took over Latin nightclubs and romantics were left wanting. But Bachata has a long history; from rural…
The New Voice of Reason
Women are increasingly at the forefront of South America’s fight to defend its indigenous lands and the environment and Patricia Gualinga, an indigenous Kichwa of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon region, is one of them. As…
“Macondo revisited” Various Artists (Vampisoul)
A rare and unique compilation from one of Latin America's most innovative record labels
Colombia: What does Peace Mean in Comuna 13?
Gwen Burnyeat visits Comuna 13, the Medellín community blighted by guerrilla, militia and state violence during Colombia's civil war and finds that graffiti and urban escalators have achieved a sense of pride and…
Mother Earth
At a time when Shakira, Carlos Vives, J Balvin and Maluma are some of the hottest artists in the planet, it is easy to forget that it was an indigenous folklore singer who kicked the global door open for Colombian artists. Totó…
Brazil: Munduruku People Fear Annihilation
The Tapajós River Basin lies at the heart of the Amazon, and at the heart of an exploding controversy: whether to build 40+ large dams, a railway, and highways, turning the Basin into a vast industrialized commodities export…