Classic Album: 'MTO² New Generation' by Don Omar
We revisit Don Omar's Album "Meet the Orphans 2: New Generation", released nine years ago. Full of surprises and without a shadow of a doubt, an album that made history in music.
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…
Latin Londoner #20 ..Emeris Solis - Percussionist
Emeris is one of Europe’s best Latin percussionists and the epitome of the Latin immigrant who has earned success in London through his craft. Chilled, good humored, and professional, he is a master in Colombian folklore,…
Music, Baseball and Cacao
It’s not only Rio Ferdinand who sees himself as the next Simon Cowell, baseball legend Bobby Abreu has put his weight into promoting Venezuelan music worldwide, with a marketing strategy only fitting for a baseball star.
When White Peak Met the White Isle – Classic Ibiza Lights Up Chatsworth
For 10 years, Classic Ibiza - a five-hour live performance of Balearic-infused dance anthems, played by the 32-piece Urban Soul Orchestra - has been recreating raves in the stunning grounds of stately homes across the UK. Caracas…
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…
Top Ten Hits April 2020
Another week of lockdown, another week of boredom...but wait! Here’s our Top Ten Hits of April 2020 to keep your spirits up and hips swaying through quarantine...
Ana Moura at the Cadogan Hall
Ana Moura’s last week’s show in London sold out weeks in advance. Yet the selection of the Cadogan Hall in the heart of Chelsea – home of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) – seemed a good choice. The venue provides the…
Bad Bunny Drops Surprise New Album
Partially recorded during quarantine, Benito Martinez delights his fans for the second time in a row this year with an unexpected album.
Típica 73 Tunes That Rock the Dance Floor
When it comes to NY salsa, rare were the bands that could compete with Típica 73 in their heyday. One of the most progressive, experimental but also heartfelt bands from the scene they had some of the most acclaimed singers of…
Convoque Seu Buda Criolo (Sterns)
The Latest album form the increasingly respected Brazilian rapper and soul singer.
Susana Baca's Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need to get you through those times of despair? Our castaway this month is Susana Baca, the greatest international exponent of Afro-Peruvian music, having…
It Takes Three to Tango
Plaza Francia is changing perceptions in the tango world. Consisting of ex-Gotan Project’s Christoph Müller and Eduardo Kakaroff and solo singer Catherine Ringer, the Paris-based group is propelling tango music into mainstream…
Paisa Prince
Since the last time we talked to J Balvin (cover of 2016 autumn edition), the Medellin born artist has soared to new heights and become one of a handful of urban Latin artists who have conquered the world. Hits such as 'Mi…
Things That Matter to...CRIOLO
Dubbed as "the most important figure on the Brazilian pop scene" by Caetano Veloso, Criolo is a hard-hitting MC of the people who has had massive cross-over success in Brazil.
The Sum of Tribes
What happens when three friends get together in a hut on a beach to jam? A best-selling album of course. Well, perhaps only if you are already best-selling superstars. Felipe Botelho Correa talks to Marisa Monte, Arnaldo Antunes…
Sergio Mendes' Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert Island, which tracks would you absolutely need to have to get you through those times of loneliness and despair? Man cannot live on sun and fish alone right? Our castaway, Brazilian music legend,…
Juan Luis Guerra’s Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need, to get you through those times of despair? Man cannot live on sun and fish alone right? Our castaway, Juan Luis Guerra, one of Latin America’s…
Danilo Perez' Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need to get you through those times of despair? Our castaway this month is Danilo Perez, the composer and pianist who has put Panama on the map of…
Total Eternal Gozadera
It’s not unusual for someone who’s never been to an ‘Amigos’ concert to emerge saying ‘that was the best concert I’ve ever been to.’ The energy and commitment to ‘total party’ in the live performances of Venezuela’s most popular…
Louie Vega’s E.O.L. Soulfrito @ Royal Festival Hall
Little Louie Vega's Nuyorican soul turns the South bank concert hall into a club night. Latinolife's review with special video reportage
THE SEPTEMBER REGGAETON RECAP
September brings a temperature drop but the artists’ this month are still making some fire records. From a bossa nova song performed in Portuñol to a track with six artists taking their turns to show off their fast and sharp flow…
Surrogate Latino #6: Jonny Liebeck, Latin Jazz Pianist and Bandleader
Jonny impressed us so much with his Latin soul/jazz/funk quartet at last year's London Latin Music Conference. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity Laban, the young Liebeck is quickly making a name for…
Philippe Baden Powell: Notes Over Poetry (Far Out Recordings)
New era Brazilian Jazz rooted in its history
Don Chezina, Wisin and Jon Z will put you on the beat of "3G
In the firstly, Wisin has united his voice to that of the Puerto Ricans Don Chezina and Jon Z for a new song that promises to make all reggaeton lovers to dance.
Arsenio Rodriguez - Como se Goza en el Barrio. Havana & NYC recordings 1946-1962’
Grosso! Recordings Arsenio Rodriguez, aka the ‘Marvellous Blind man’ is one of Latin music’s greatest unsung heroes. A true genius, he created the roots s of what eventually would become Salsa. He died poor and forgotten in the…
Latinolife’s Worst One-Hit Latin Wonders
British consumers love a bit of kitch, and there’s nothing like a foreign-ish song to give the drunken punters a laugh on the pub dance floor. From the pastiche to the parody, they were painful at the time, but now a dying genre…
Big Little Sister
It would be surprising if iLe, Puerto Rico’s latest hot musical export, had nothing to say. Not only was she the sole female vocalist in rap group Calle 13, she has been performing with her politically astute half-brothers, Rene…
THE AUGUST REGGAETON RECAP
As we enjoy the last few days of sunshine and blue skies, artists have been dropping some upbeat melodies that are catchy enough to clear any summer blues. An American R&B songstress has decided to team up with a Baile funk…
La Casa del Ritmo: A film about ‘Los Amigos Invisibles’- a biopic by Javier Andrade.
This documentary has the story of the band woven into a key live performance shot at the Highline Ballroom in New York City in March 2011, created with the backing of the group’s own label, Gozadera Records. The film screens on…
Reggaetón’s Songsmith
Justin Quiles is not your average reggaetón star. The US-born Puerto Rican is not only one of the hottest urban singers out there, with over five billion combined streams, but also one of the most sought after songwriters in…
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.
LEON KING
For a country that has given Latin America its most phenomenal and popular male vocalists (and songwriters), it is no surprise that Mexico has also produced some of the world's greatest operatic tenors, such as Ramón Vargas…
THE DECEMBER REGGAETON RECAP
This month is all about gift giving and these artists must’ve read our Christmas lists because they know exactly what tracks we’ve wished for. Everyone's favourite musical acts have been busy wrapping not just presents but…
Carlos Vives’ Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need, to get you through those times of despair? Man cannot live on sun and fish alone right? Our castaway, Carlos Vives, one of the most emblematic…