
Our Favourite Latin Christmas Songs
Christmas is a universal celebration, but the feelings it generates is different for every culture and every country, by the music we listen to, the food we eat, our idiosyncratic festive habits. Every December in the UK, when…
The Juanes Mash Up
The Colombian music landscape has transformed dramatically over the last 10 years, with reggaetón becoming the new pop, but one Medellín rockero has transcended all trends and remains as relevant today doing the music he loves.…
Clementina, Where Are You?
In Brazil, Cinderella has a different name - Clementina. Clementina de Jesus worked for decades as a maid before being discovered, at the age of 62, by a record producer and composer named Herminio Bello de Carvalho. With the…
10 Love Songs to play your Valentine
To be honest, we could make a hundred lists of Latino love songs, indeed we have, so this year we decided to put it out to the public. Here is what we got for the Valentine's Playlist 2023!
Reclaiming Tango: an interview with Maia Castro
Quality and passion never go out of fashion and the wonder of tango is that, though one of the most traditional music genres in Latin America, it keeps evolving and producing new and exciting singers. One of those is singer-…
Things You Should Know About...Zeca Padoginho
The fiesta front man with a Rio samba inspired sound, Zeca Pagodinho is one of Brazil’s best loved artists, embodying the free, easy-going Carioca spirit. “Probably the only one who didn't sell for cheesy samba,"…
Things we love about....El Sistema
El Sistema is a Venezuelan musical organisation that has inspired many from the poorest neighborhoods of the Andean Region. The system watches over Venezuela's 125 youth orchestras and is a voluntary group. Some 370,000…
Uncovering B.Léza - Cesaria Evora’s songwriter
Few people had heard of Cabo Verde, an arc of islands off the coast of Senegal, until Cesária Évora put them on the map. B. Leza is one of the most important composers in the history of Cabo Verde, and anyone who knows Cesária…
Girl on a Mission
Old soul, 90s style Hip-Hop and modern Trap, all shaped by the band of an Argentine alternative-rock legend? Intriguing to say the least. And that is precisely the way you can describe the shape-shifting 25-year-old, Argentine-…
Los Babasonicos @ The Dome, Tufnell Park, 27th October
A lack-lustre performance from the classic Argentine band, lacking its fans' enthusiasm for an Argentine night to remember in the classic North London msuic venue
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…
OUR TIME TO SHINE
Sons and daughters of immigrants, the UK’s first-generation Spanglish-singing Latino-Brits have been busy creating in the shadows of a bustling UK urban music scene. But with music in Spanish now making the global hits, they…
Woman on the Verge: Eva Ruiz
Born in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, Eva Ruiz has the ability to paint pictures with words and sounds, through her distinctly graceful, smooth yet powerful voice. She also portrays Jenna in Culpa Mia, a hit Amazon Prime…
Mariah
Women in the urban genre are now playing a big role in the Latin Music industry, one of these great promises of female urban music is named Mariah, "La Princesa de Miami" (Miami's Princess).
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…
'AS YOU SEE ME NOW' by The Jools Holland Rhythm & Blues Orchestra with José Feliciano
A stunning 14-track collaboration between Puerto Rican guitar legend and Grammy Award winner José Feliciano and Jools Holland's Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, you can really feel how these musicians enjoyed making these…
Remembering Lalo Rodriguez
"Lalo" Rodríguez was one of salsa’s great prodigies. The talk of the town in his native Puerto Rico in the early 70s when, at the age of 15, he was a discovered by Eddie Palmieri, the phenomenal force in Latin music at…
Things That Matter To...Flavia Coelho
From the morros of Rio de Janeiro where she was born to the paved streets of Paris, where she now resides, Flavia Coelho has travelled the world and is at home where her music feels welcome. Needless to say, the Brazilian has…
Maná Ignites Wembley With An Electrifying Performance
Mana performed in London for the first time ever, closing its European tour with a sold-out event at Ovo Arena charming fans from all over Latin America and Europe.
‘Cumbia was a means of liberation’ - An Interview with Sonora Dinamita
About to celebrate it’s 60th birthday, Sonora Dinamita was making Cumbia before the hipsters of Europe and Asia, who embraced the genre, were an apple in the eye of music marketeers. The Cartagena Cumbia group, who then moved to…
Things That Matter To...Antonio Lizana
Growing up immersed in the world of Flamenco, Cádiz-born Antonio Lizana studied Jazz in Musikene, the Advanced Music School in San Sebastián. Though submerged in jazz composition, he found that flamenco crept into every song he…
THE POWER OF NOW: An Interview with Cultura Profética
Cultura Profética is one of Puerto Rico's most influential bands. Formed in 1996, the group came to encapsulate what it is to be Latin Caribbean with its unique fusion of Caribbean reggae and Latin genres such as bossa nova…
ARMANDO MANZANERO : LIGHTS GO OUT FOR MEXICO'S SMOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN
Armando Manzanero was one of Mexico’s greatest romantic composers, whose ballads were performed by the likes of Elvis Presley and Christina Aguilera and, most famously, provided the tunes for Luis Miguel's best selling…
Cuba's Real Royalty
When Charles and Camilla visited Cuba in March this year they were probably unaware that Cuba has its own royalty in the shape of popular female Cuban Rap duo “La Reyna y La Real” (“Reyna” being a popular Cuban name which is…
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…
Brazilian Strings: Interview with Cellist Tania Lisboa
Corina Poore interviews Brazilian cellist Tania Lisboa, who celebrates 30 years based in the UK with a charity concert playing the sublime music of Villa- Lobos, Debussy, Guarnieri and Bridge with Scottish pianist Elizabeth Mucha…
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…
Historic Beat Battle: Tainy Vs. Luny
As the government’s guidelines to quarantine are extended, creatives all around the globe have taken their hidden and not-so-hidden talents to the gram.
Cumbia Feminism?
What is Acid Coco? You surely are asking. Acid Coco is that first sip of Colombian coffee in the morning to get the day started right. Acid Coco is taking a stroll through ‘El Tayrona’ watching the sunset, making you feel in tune…
Things That Matter to…David Bisbal
My earliest memory was music, it's more of a feeling than a particular event, a love for music whenever it was played, my love for singing.
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…
J Balvin: 'Colores' Review
Bright, bold and vivacious? Yep, that's J Balvin for you. Well him AND his brand new album 'Colores', the 10 track Album that brings hope and colour in times of uncertainty. Here's our song-by-song review...
KAROL G AT THE 02 ARENA
Colombia’s Leading Lady performed in London’s largest arena and made sure no one in the crowd left the venue without a smile on their face.
Daddy Yankee performs @ 02 Arena
London provided an electric atmosphere at The 02 but the performance by the King of Reggaetón didn't do it justice, says Abhijit Kapadia
Antonio Lizano's Jazz Eñe
To mark the end of this year's Flamenco Fetsival, Saxophonist Antonio Lizana played a variety of fascinating tracks at The Cervantes Theatre, exploring new pastures in Flamenco/Jazz fusion. The compositions of this cantaor/…