Visionary vocalist and composer Daymé Arocena has been staying deeply in touch with her Havana roots.
Once described as Cuba’s “finest young female singer,” Arocena has been impressing audiences around the world — including a Juno Award in 2015 for her work with Jane Bunnett and Maqueque. An important voice in Latin music, she has collaborated with influential Cuban peers such as Chucho Valdés and Pedrito Martinez as well as U.S. heavyweights like Dexter Story and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson.
For her latest album, 2019’s Sonocardiogram, Arocena stripped everything back to the core, holding sessions in a simple, repurposed artist’s studio in Havana and self-producing the record with a top-notch band of fellow Cuban musicians. Arocena recently joined us on Café Latino for a conversation about her life, career and music.