Daymé Arocena at the North Beach Bandshell, Miami Beach Saturday.  Photo by Elvis Suárez ©

Daymé Arocena and Cimafunk, two of the most promising young singers and songwriters from Cuba, performed before a sold-out North Beach Bandshell, in Miami Beach, Saturday.

Both are updating traditional styles and rhythms in Cuban music, but each one approaches it in a distinctly personal way.
Arocena has the stage charm, voice, and expressiveness that can turn blender repair instructions into poetry. She opened with several pieces from the Santeria ritual before offering a set that included songs in English and Spanish, a couple of boleros, a Brazilian-style singalong, jazz scatting and even some R&B turns. Remarkably, all sounded organic, lived-in. She has an impeccable sense of time and intonation and proved to be a fearless improviser.

Next time it would be great to hear Arocena in a setting that would allow her to work with dynamics, and before an audience interested in listening. Saturday, most appeared to have come to dance to Cimafunk, aka Erik Alejandro Iglesias, arguably the hottest artist these days in Cuba. (Cimafunk alludes to Cimarrón, as the African slaves who escaped his masters were called; and funk)

Cimafunk, aka Erik Alejandro Iglesias, at the North Beach Bandshell, Miami Beach Saturday.  Photo by Elvis Suárez ©

He has developed a style built mainly on James Brown’s brand of funk with elements of Fela Kuti’s AfroPop and the sound of old Cuban big bands, but also reggaeton, a pinch of rock, jazz, and generous servings of various traditional Cuban styles. With Cimafunk, all is in play. Add to the mix street-wise lyrics delivered with charisma and you got a dance music phenomenon.

He also opened with an invocation-style piece, in his case an impressive acapella song, before unleashing his band on some of his greatest hits such as “Paciente” (Patient), “Me Voy” (I’m Leaving) and “Ponte Pa’ Lo Tuyo” (Do your thing) with the curious refrain “con mi dinero yo hago lo que quiero” (With my money I do what I want).
Saturday the presenters had removed most of the benches and left plenty of space for dancing. Wise move.

A version of this piece was published by Artburst Miami, Apil, 1st, 2019.

Cuban singer and songwriter Daymé Arocena. Photo by Tony Martinez, courtesy of Fundarte

In the music of Cuban singer and songwriter Daymé Arocena Santeria rhythms brush against rumba and samba grooves. She has a rich, caramel-toned contralto voice, both powerful and expressive and from song to song, her phrasing may hint now at filin’, now at classic soul and R&B, or she may break out into her own style of jazz scatting  — and yet the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
She has an irrepressible, engaging personality and makes it all sound as her birthright.

Her approach can be heard on recordings such as Havana Cultura Mix: The Soundclash! and the EP One Takes. and on two albums under her own name, Nueva Era ( 2015), and Cubafonia (2017). A third one, Sonocardiogram is scheduled for release in a few weeks.

Arocena and her quartet, are part of a promising double bill with Cuban singer and producer Cimafunk (aka Erick Alejandro Iglesias), perform as part of the Global CubaFest 2019, at the North Beach Bandshell, Miami Beach, Saturday, March 30 at 6 p.m.

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