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For Xiomara Laugart, the past never goes away; she likes to hide in music. “My faith, I believe in you, you won’t go away,” Alberto Tosca wrote to her in that song and Xiomara seems to have decided to live by those lyrics, to this day.

Her loud laughter filled my kitchen this afternoon, while Omar brewed coffee, many times, and my mother cooked pumpkin flan. She evokes her mother in the sweet, comes back to life and tells.

She tells with astonishing naturalness that she never studied music and goes on and on. She goes on to freedom, and overflows with passion, because for her freedom is music.

Technically she could do whatever she wants, but if she does not feel it, if it does not make her vibrate, Xiomara, “The voice of Cuba”, could not sing.

On September 8, 1960 in Guantanamo, Cuba, XIOMARA LAUGART, nicknamed “La Negra”, was born. Excellent singer, established in Massachusetts.

Before emigrating to the United States, Laugart had an extensive career within the Cuban Nueva Trova movement. He has recorded more than 17 albums.

Representative of Cuban music in various parts of the world. He worked with the group Pisos Nuevos in Nicaragua. Also with Descemer Bueno. He led the group Yerba Buena. She represented Celia Cruz on Broadway.

Xiomara Laugart was born in Guantánamo. She attended university and graduated in Economics, then began her musical career through the nueva trova, a movement of political musical protest, very popular between the sixties and nineties.

He studied music at the Escuela de Superación Profesional Ignacio Cervantes. He began his artistic career professionally in 1985.

His beginnings were quite intense, participating quickly in international stages.

In 1979 he participated in the Festival of Political Song in Berlin. In 1980 he traveled to Nicaragua with the Pinos Nuevos Group, from the Isle of Youth.

The following year she participated again as a guest at the Berlin Political Song Festival and that same year she won third prize at the Political Song Interpretation Contest in Sochi, Soviet Union.

In 1980 she won third place in interpretation at the Adolfo Guzmán Cuban Music Contest; she participated in the V Festival y Activo de la Nueva Trova, the VI Cumbre and Carifesta. He belonged to the Guiñol Theater group of Isla de la Juventud. He was a member of the group Aconcagua and Talla Extra (X-L), and, for a time, worked with Alberto Tosca.

In 1982 he performed at the Café Concert in Mexico, participated in the Festival for Non-Intervention in Central America and Disarmament, held in Holland, Belgium, and the same year, he traveled to France. He became a regular in Mexico and returned to the Aztec country in 1984.

That same year she participated in the Political Song Festival held in Sopot, Poland, and later toured Honduras and Costa Rica.

His voice has a very wide register, although he stands out for his high tones.

She shows a vivid and exceptional sense of rhythm that allows her to interpret from bolero to salsa, from danzón to guaracha to the most sophisticated jazz and funk.

Atrapando espacios, Qué manera de quererte, Hoy mi Habana, Se fue, Ni un ya no estás and Oh melancolía! are some of the songs that are part of her repertoire and that continue to receive a standing ovation every time she performs on the stages of South Florida.

“The first person who introduced me to Miami was the maestro Meme Solis.

Meme has been my mentor in this city and was responsible for opening the doors to a new audience that followed him for years and now goes to my concerts, she says when referring to her close relationship with the legendary Cuban composer.

Source: Hyper Media

Xiomara Laugart

You can read: Israel Kantor was an excellent bassist, arranger and composer who achieved great popularity in Cuba for his vocal technique and original “Sonear” style.

On September 7th in the province of Baharona in Batey 7, Dominican Republic, Michel Batista or better known as Michel “El Buenon” was born, he is a singer and composer.

Considered the most sought after salsa singer, he is a man with a big heart and a story worth admiring, because despite all the vicissitudes he went through during his childhood and youth, he became great, as his grandmother Dona Crisiana instilled in him.

From a very young age he attended Sunday school at the Baptist church with his mother Crisiana Abraham, with whom he attended the evangelical church shepherded by herself, where he also sang in the church choir on Sundays.

In elementary school she participated in a music festival where she won first place at only 8 years of age.

Later she competed in a regional festival in the town of Barahona in the radio station Radio Barahona, winning first place at the age of 12.

He then migrated from the south to the city of Santo Domingo, where he began singing in bars, nightclubs and hotels like the Sheratton, Napolitano, El Embajador.

In addition to the resorts Talanquera, Casa de Campo Sosua, Puerto Plata, among others.

At the beginning he was part of the Tabú Combo, a group from Puerto Príncipe based in New York City, recording hits such as “Inflaciones General”, “La Llave”, “Relimen” and composing the song “Apipi”, known in French and in Spanish as “El Jardinero”, which he recorded with his friend Wilfrido Vargas.

He would later be part of Johnny Ventura’s orchestra for 5 years, from 1982 to 1987.

He recorded the song “Tuyo Más Que Tuyo” by Bienvenido Fabián, then he joined again the Tabú Combo Superstar orchestra with Adolfo Chanci, its director.

In 1995 he went solo and recorded his first salsa CD titled “Amigo De Qué”, which was played all over Latin America, occupying for 12 weeks the first place of the radio station La Mega in the city of New York.

Later he released his second album “Brujería”, and seven others: “De Ahí Nadie Como Él” (2001), “100% Sabroso” (2002), “Llego Michel El Buenon” (2005), “Víveme” (2005) and “Extrañándote” (2005), which contained ballads interpreted in the rhythm of salsa in the style of “El Buenon”, this production has unpublished songs of Michel himself such as “Que Te Vaya Bonito” and “Yo Que Me Lo Creo”.

Throughout his career he has been winner of the Casandra Awards 2005-2006-2007 and nominated in 2008 and 2011.

Among his languages interpreting songs are English, Portuguese, Italian, Papiamiento, Creole, Spanish and French as he did in the song “Se Finit” by Charles Asnabul and the song Wonderful World in tribute to Mr. Luis Armstrong.

In his repertoire of the most outstanding songs in 2008 are “La Primavera”, “Cuando Los Sapos Bailan Flamenco”, “La Playa”, “Víveme”, “Tú Ni Te Lo Imaginas”, “Hoy Daría Yo La Vida”, “Me Has Echado Al Olvido”, “A La Primer Persona” and “Wonderful World”, all with hits and diffusion in all the radios and discotheques of his country.

Among his most outstanding albums in the last ten years are “Extrañándote”, “Todo Terreno”, “Estilo Y Conciencia”, “Arriba Siempre De Pura Sangre”, “Reserva Especial Impecable”, “El Insuperable De La Salsa” and “Claro, Fino, Nítido, Control Total”.

Throughout his career he has traveled to all of Europe, the United States, the Lesser Antilles, Switzerland, England, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Mexico, Curacao, La Reunion, Tahiti, Africa, Japan, Dubai and Colombia, the latter was where he recorded the video clip of his song “Maldito El Tiempo” written by Alexander Pires.

Michel “El Buenon”

You can read: Génesis de la Salsa, su esencia, características, ritmo, historia y expansión

International Salsa Magazine presents a Cuban musician today considered by critics as one of the best trumpet players of the moment in Cuba and probably in the whole world.

He is Alexander Abreu Manresa, born on September 6, 1976 in Cienfuegos.

Owner of innate conditions and a unique talent to play the trumpet in a wonderful way.

Alexander Abreu, in spite of his youth, equals greats of the instrument such as El Guajiro Mirabal, Arturo Sandoval or Dizzy Gillespie, without ignoring that as a singer he has a melodious voice and, as if that were not enough, he also works as a composer and musical director.

He began playing trumpet at the age of ten, he studied music at the conservatory of music in his hometown Cienfuegos and at the National School of Art where he graduated in 1994 and in that same institution has served as a teacher, the impeccable way of playing his instrument allowed him to reach the top in Cuban music with only twenty years of age; he was part of the Cuban jazz group Irakere, worked with exponents of Cuban Timba Paulo FG and Issac Delgado and his Orchestra.

On the other hand, he has made recordings in other genres with musicians, composers and singers such as:

Armando Anthony Corea, known as Chick Corea, is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist and composer.

Arnaldo Rodríguez, young talented arranger, composer, singer and director of the Cuban Musical Group Arnaldo y su talismán, born in Ciego de Avila, Cuba.

Baby Lores, musician, singer and arranger from the city of Cienfuegos, the Pearl of the South.

Hugh Ramopolo Masekela, trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer and South African jazz singer from South Africa.

James Morrison Catchpole, English soul and pop rock singer, songwriter and guitarist.

Luís Represas, Portuguese singer and composer.

Ron Sexsmith, Canadian singer-songwriter.

Alexander Abreu created, in 2007, his own group, which he called Havana D’ Primera, with several of the most talented Cuban musicians, the first presentation of the band took place on October 4, 2008 at the Cabaret Turquino of the Habana Libre Hotel in Havana.

With Havana D’ Primera, he has made three albums, they are: Haciendo Historia in 2011, Pasaporte in 2013 and La Vuelta al Mundo in 2015.

He has also released the singles: Rosa la Peligrosa, Me Dicen Cuba and Prohibido. Alexander Abreu Manresa is trumpet and lead vocalist of Havana D’ Primera, as well as composer, arranger and musical director of the group.

This work aims to highlight the enormous and excellent musical career of one of the best musicians of the island of Cuba in the new generation, with just thirty-eight years of age, the music of Alexander Abreu has transcended borders, his recordings exceed one hundred albums in different countries and in multiple musical genres.

From our website, we want to highlight the magnificent musical career of Alexander Abreu Manresa.

Despite his youth, Alexander Abreu’s musical gifts and excellence have allowed him to play and record with a great number of musicians and groups, not only in his native Cuba, but also in other countries of the world, to mention a few, we have then, as far as our music is concerned: Adalberto Álvarez, Amaury Pérez, Andy Montañez, Irakere, Juan Manuel Ceruto, Klimax, Mayito Rivera, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, Pablo Milanés, Pachito Alonso, Team Cuba, Teresa García Cataurla, Van Van and Yurumí y sus Hermanos.

Havana D’Primera nominated to the Latin Grammy Awards 2022

“We are nominated once again for the Latin Grammy Awards, this time with the album Será que se Acabó. But it’s not just me. Cuban music is nominated, which is reflected in this album with all the energy. I think it’s the most powerful album I’m going to make in the history of my life.” This is how Alexander Abreu announced the magnificent news.

Será que se Acabó, Havana D’Primera’s latest album, was nominated for the 2022 Latin Grammy Awards in the category of Best Salsa Album.

“At The Latin Recording Academy, we continually strive to support and encourage Latin music creators, and these nominees epitomize musical excellence and represent the great moment our music is going through,” said Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy.

Alexander Abreu & Habana de Primera

You can read: Yissy García Calzadilla, former member of the Anacaona Orchestra, plays drums, timbal and bongo