
Things That Matter to...Amaro Freitas
From the slums of Recife in Brazil's North-East to international jazz icon, Amaro Freitas has earned the music world's attention for "an approach to the keyboard so unique that it's startling" (Downbeat…
Spotlight on...Fuego!
The Dominican star has been in the game for over 10 years, and has gained even more popularity over the last couple of years.
J Balvin "El niño de Medellin" review
J Balvin bares soul and fights with conscience in his brilliantly told story.
Latin Londoner #41: Sonia Bernardo, Singer Songwriter
Sonia is a British-Portuguese singer/songwriter that has been pricking ears with her powerful soulful voice, tinged with a Fado weep, mixed with Bossa-Nova simplicity and jazzy embellishments. Bernardo caught the attention of…
Diaspora Music: Venezuela
In recent years, there’s been a lot of talk of the global domination of Latin Music. A big contributor to this phenomenon has been the Latin diaspora - artists making music outside their countries. In this first feature of our…
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…
Surrogate Latino #7: Miguel Muziq, Latin Jazz Guitarist
Guitarist, songwriter, and producer, Miguel Muziq is a new force to be reckoned with on the Latin Jazz scene. His production/remixing credits include Usher and Kelly Rowland, now Miguel’s debut album “An Angel’s Healing” finally…
Spotlight on...Yendry
Meet the uprising Dominican star Yendry who is doing music on her own terms, showing the whole world that you cannot put her in any box as she defies all labels. The breathtaking artist interlaces Afro-Caribbean rhythms from the…
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…
Reggaeton Legends: Vico C
Vico C is considered one of the greatest artists in the history of the Urban genre in Latin America and Spain. Reflective, deep, socially conscious and catchy and danceable lyrics are what Vico C songs are made for all kind of…
Top 10 Salsa Hits of the '80s
We got real nostalgic here at LatinoLife over lockdown and started listening to all the great salsa tracks that have been produced over the years, from the '70s when Fania exploded onto the scene, thru the '80s and…
Spotlight on...L-Gante
Ahead of his debut London appearance this Friday we profile the pioneer of 'RKT' - a musical genre that stems from mixing reggaetón beats and cumbia villera sounds, a style very particular to Argentina, with heavy tones…
A Brief History of Latin Music in London
Notwithstanding the cheesy album covers and the pastiche distortions of Latin dance on BBC’s Strictly’, London has had a long and idiosyncratic affair with Latin culture. From the hi-flying success of Edmundo Ros’ Latin Big Band…
Top 10 Salsa Hits of the 1970s
We got real nostalgic here at LatinoLife over lockdown and started listening to all the great salsa tracks that have been produced over the years, from the '70s when Fania exploded onto the scene, thru the '80s and…
Remembering Luiz Melodia
A Carioca God of music, Brazil's black Orpheus, a master of Música Popular Brasileira (MPB); Luiz Melodia was like a rhapsode, always absorbing what was happening in the universe of music at that moment condensing rock,…
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.
Teleport yourself through Sech's Latest Album "42"
Panamanian Reggaeton Sensation, Sech releases his third album “42”, the 11 track album is vibrant and features Rauw Alejando, Arcangel, Wisin Y Yandel and Nicky Jam.
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…
REMEMBERING SELENA
I'm willing to bet that you've seen a few Jennifer Lopez films. But have you seen her best one? The one where she plays another musical star - who was even bigger than ‘Jenny from the Block’ would go on to be.…
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 held their own as the rare voices of salsa, greatest soneras who bewitched audiences and proved…
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…
Top 10 Noughties Reggaeton Tracks
From Tego to Daddy Yankee here are the top 10 Noughties Reggaeton hits from our freinds at Reggaeton.co.uk! From early to mid 00's this may even be a younger generations "old school" list.
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…
Tino Contreras' Fantasy Island Tracks
Our castaway this month is Tino Contreras the master Mexican jazz drummer who for more than six decades has melded Latin influences with free jazz, psychedelia, avant-garde experimentation, and global sounds. Born in 1924, Tino…
The London Latin All Stars
The headline act at 'LatinoLife in the Park', what better way to comeback from lockdown than bring together the finest UK Latin artists of a generation for this specially curated 16-piece Big Band, to finish the UK…
DESTINY’S SONG
Luis Enrique is arguably Latin America’s biggest and most enduring romantic salsa star of the modern era. Hits such as 'Desesperado', 'Así es la vida' and 'Tu no le amas le temes' made him a…
Swiss Sampling: An Interview with Michel Cleis
His track ‘La Mezcla’, using a Toto La Momposina sample, became one of the biggest house tracks of the century, and it made him a household name in that market. Now the World-renowned Swiss DJ and producer just reworked Natalia…
Wandering Soul
Caracas born singer-songwriter Laura Guevara was one of Venezuela’s risings stars, winning the Pepsi Awards in 2017, the country's equivalent of the Mercury Prize. Her involvement in the student protests, however, leading…
A Passion for Piazzolla
Astor Piazzolla has inspired many artists around the world, none more so than Ann Liebeck, creator of Violetta's Last Tango, the opera dance drama that premiered in Wilton’s Music Hall in 2017 and is streamed tonight. Here…
One Hundred Years of Nostalgia: The Great Astor Piazzolla
One hundred years ago today Astor Piazzolla one of the world’s most admired composers and musicians in the world, was born. A man whose transcended borders and revolutionised tango music forever. To this day his towering…
Smoulder Smoulder: My Secret Love of Luis Miguel
If you’ve never heard of Luis Miguel, you’ve been living an empty life. The Netflix series on the Mexican crooner, who is widely regarded as the most successful artist in Latin American history, literally bigger than Jesus,…
Top 10 Hector Lavoe Tracks
The Singer of Singers, Hector Lavoe was the face of NY salsa in the 70s and went on to become an icon of latin music. His voice was second to none and his delivery and stage persona made him one of the most populars singers of…
Top Ten Reggaeton Hits of March
If you are stuck at home waiting for that 21st of June to come along…I bring you hope with the best tracks of the month that will make you look forward to sunny and going-out days again! Check out the likes of Bad Bunny, Rosalía…
Things That Matter to...Luiz Gabriel Lopes
Luiz Gabriel Lopes is a singer-songwriter from Minas Gerais, the fertile territory that spawned the incredible Clube da Esquina generation of Milton Nascimento, Lo Borges, Toninho Horta et al. Echoing these illustrious…
Pixinguinha: The Demiurge of Brazilian Music
‘If you have 15 volumes to talk about all of Brazilian popular music, rest assured it’s too little. But if you only have the space for a word, you are saved. Write quickly: Pixinguinha.’ Though this quotation by Ary Vasconcelos,…