Albita Rodríguez

Albita Rodríguez (born 6 June 1962), known in her music career simply as Albita, is a Grammy-winning Cuban-American singer, producer and composer.

Albita was born in Havana, Cuba. Her parents were well-known Cuban folk music singers, which ensured Albita's exposure to the world of Cuban country music from her early years. Working professionally since her teen years, by the late eighties she had attained some level of recognition among national interpreters of Cuban folk music.

In 1988, her first album, Habrá Música Guajira (There Will Be Guajira Music), was released. In 1990, work commitments took her to Colombia and from there she defected to the United States on April 15, 1993, making the southern city of Miami her place of permanent residence.

Albita spent some time performing at a Spanish food restaurant in Miami, where she got the attention of celebrities like Gianni Versace, Quincy Jones, Madonna, Sylvester Stallone, Paco de Lucia, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, among others that soon became her fans.

Celia Cruz

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Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso also known by her stage name Celia Cruz (October 21, 1925 – July 16, 2003) was a Cuban singer of latin music. The most popular latin artist of the 20th century, she earned twenty-three gold albums and was a recipient of the National Medal of Arts. She was renowned internationally as the "Queen of Salsa", "La Guarachera de Cuba", as well as The Queen of Latin Music.

She spent much of her career working in the United States and several Latin American countries. Leila Cobo of Billboard Magazine once said "Cruz is indisputably the best known and most influential female figure in the history of Cuban and Latin music".

Early life

Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso was born on October 21, 1925 in the diverse, working-class neighborhood of Santos Suárez in Havana, Cuba, the second of four children. Her father, Simon Cruz, was a railroad stoker and her mother, Catalina Alfonso was a homemaker who took care of an extended family of fourteen.

Paquito D'Rivera

Paquito D'Rivera (born June 4, 1948 in Cuba) is an alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist. The winner of 14 Grammy Awards, he is celebrated both for his artistry in Latin jazz and his achievements as a classical composer.

Early life

Born in Havana, Cuba, he performed at age 10 with the National Theater Orchestra, studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music and, at 17, became a featured soloist with the Cuban National Symphony.

Career

By 1980, D'Rivera had become dissatisfied with the constraints placed on his music in Cuba for many years. In an interview with ReasonTV, D'Rivera notes that the Cuban communist government described jazz and rock and roll as "imperialist" music that was officially discouraged in the 1960s/70s, and that a meeting with Che Guevara sparked his desire to leave Cuba. In early 1981, while on tour in Spain, he sought asylum with the American Embassy, and left his homeland, wife and child behind in search of a better life with a promise to get them out. Upon his arrival in the United States, D'Rivera found great support for him and his family. His mother, Maura, and his sister, Rosario, had left Cuba in 1968 and became U.S. citizens. Maura had worked in the U.S. in the fashion industry for many years, and Rosario was now a respected artist/entrepreneur. He was introduced to the jazz scene at some of the most prestigious clubs and concert halls in New York. He became something of a phenomenon after the release of his first two solo albums, Paquito Blowin' (June 1981) and Mariel (July 1982).