Supported by the likes of Vibe Magazine and The Fader, Daymé Arocena stands as one of Cuba’s shining musical lights. With Cubafonía, her second album, set to cement her place as one of her country’s important new voices, this is an opportunity to see the 24-year-old singer and bandleader perform in an intimate venue.

Entering one of Havana’s prestigious, state-funded classical conservatoires at age 9, that rigorous classical training has informed an interconnected vision of Cuban music, where inspiration comes from the Caribbean island’s different rhythms and styles. Winning the prestigious Marti y el Arte award in 2007 Cuban artist, Daymé also received plaudits from Wynton Marsalis and Jane Bunnett as a teenager.

It was a performance for Gilles Peterson that prompted him to invite her to London to perform live and sign to his Brownswood imprint. Following a 2015 debut album, Nueva Era, and 2016’s One Takes EP, her second full-length sees the same combination of Afro-Cuban folkloric music with the sounds of jazz and neo-soul – finding connections between her own musical traditions and the world she’s been travelling these past two years.

Line up:

Daymé Arocena – Voice
Jorge Luis Lagarza – keys
Rafael Aldama – Bass
Ruly Herrera – Drums
Yelfris Valdez – Trumpet