Caridad Cruz

Press Kitwww.caridadcruz.com

Heating things up with spicy Latin tunes HHaavvaannaa nnaattiivvee CCaarriiddaadd CCrruuzz ppaacckkss aa ppoowweerrffuull ppuunncchh Celeste Mackenzie, The Ottawa Citizen, April 26, 2007 To really appreciate Caridad Cruz's music, you have to see her perform live. She's an entertainer, a crowd pleaser. With her powerful voice and no-holds-barred personality, she knows how to get people up dancing and singing.

"It's the ultimate, when an audience gives energy back through some sort of engagement like clapping, cheering and dancing, and at Caridad's show the audience can't resist the impulse to move," [club owner Paul] Symes said.

Divine vocalizations

Based on this Canadian debut performance, Caridad Cruz seems well on her way to royal status herself, with a warm ocean of a voice that ignited the "house band," Jane Bunnett's Spirits of Havana.

By LI ROBBINS Special to The Globe and Mail March 26, 2004 - Page R10

One of the most anticipated performers in the lineup was Caridad Cruz, relative of the late Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz.

KIDJO BRINGS HEAT BY JASON RICHARDS

ANGELIQUE KIDJO with CARIDAD CRUZ at Harbourfront Centre, June 19, 2004. Tickets: $25. Attendance: 1,000. Rating: NNNN

It was colder than being cool at Harbourfront Centre 's outdoor stage at around 8 pm, when fire-spirited opener Caridad Cruz erupted into life. Stashed in the Latin artist's arsenal was a killer three-piece band, vicious mambo steps driving her voluptuous figure, … and a voice that could easily be confused with that of her namesake, elder Cuban music icon Celia Cruz.

Caridad Cruz Caridad Cruz Vilain was born in Havana, Cuba, into a musical family deeply rooted in Afro-Cuban culture. Her beloved father Daniel Cruz was an accomplished professional violinist, whose own mother was a first cousin of the great Celia Cruz. (Celia had already left Cuba before Caridad was born, so the two never met.)

Caridad studied music for three years at Havana's Escuela Superación Técnico Profesional Ignacio Cervantes under the tutelage of Argelia Fragoso, while at the same time taking private vocal training from Margarita Orutinier. Other early musical influences include Pablo Milanes, Félix Chapotin, Elena Burke, Omara Portuondo, Beatriz Márquez, Rafael Lay and La Orquesta Aragon, and El Cuarteto Los De Enrique. In 1990, Caridad began her professional career with a six-month stint in Trinidad, Cuba, in hotels Costa Sur and Ancón. Over the next ten years in Havana she went on to sing in many venues sas the Hotel Vedado, Casa del Thé, Bosque de Bologna, Bar Monserrate, Café Paris, El Patio, Villa Panaméricana and Cabaret Alibar. In 2002, her first CD, Caridad Cruz con el Grupo Habanero Son, was released. In the fall of 2003, Caridad moved to Chelsea, Quebec to live with her Canadian husband Michael Bein. The following spring she made her performing debut in Canada with Jane Bunnett's Spirits of Havana in a Toronto concert Global Divas that earned her a rave review in the Globe and Mail and was aired nationally on CBC Radio. She soon appeared again in Toronto before an outdoor crowd of 1,000 people at Harbourfront Centre, where, backed by piano phenom David Virelles and conga master Luisito Orbegoso, she kicked open the show for French-African star Angélique Kidjo. In 2006, Caridad toured New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut, accompanied by some of New York's leading Latin jazz players, like bassist Ruben Rodriguez and conguero Chembo Corniel. In Montreal, backed by the powerful 9-piece salsa band Ritmo Caribeño she sang a Celia Cruz retrospective, which was repeated in the 2006 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.

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In 2007, Caridad exploded onto the Ottawa scene, with appearances in the National Arts Centre’s Quebec Scene festival, the Ottawa Jazz Festival and the Ottawa Bluesfest. “Havana native Caridad Cruz packs a powerful punch,” read the Ottawa Citizen headline.

2008 saw Caridad headlining the Carnival of Cultures at the Astrolabe Theatre, making a return to the Ottawa Jazz Festival, appearing on Rogers TV with César Ricardo, and twice setting fire to the National Arts Centre Fourth Stage.

She appeared in 2009 at the Canada Day celebrations in Major’s Hill Park and at the Casino du Lac Leamy Festival of Sound and Light. She performed at the Ottawa Jazz Festival again that year and twice again in 2010, with one show broadcast nationwide and recorded by CBC Radio and made available on the internet through Concerts On Demand. In 2010 Caridad and César also made their third appearance at the NAC Fourth Stage as part of CHIN Radio’s World Music Showcase.

Caridad retains close family and musical ties to Cuba, and a love for her native country which is expressed proudly in her music.

Caridad Cruz Caridad Cruz Vilain est née à La Havane, Cuba, dans une famille riche en tradition musicale et culture afro-cubaine. Son père, Daniel Cruz, fut un violoniste professionnel accompli et sa mère était cousine de la célèbre Celia Cruz. (Celia ayant quitté Cuba avant la naissance de Caridad, les deux chanteuses n’auront jamais l’occasion de se rencontrer.)

Caridad étudie la musique pendant trois ans à la Escuela Superación Técnico Profesional Ignacio Cervantes à La Havane auprès de la professeure Argelia Fragoso. Elle suit alors des leçons de vocalise avec Margarita Orutinier. Parmi les autres influences de ses premières heures, on retrouve Conjunto de Pablo Milanes, Félix Chapotin, Elena Burke, Omara Portuondo, Beatriz Márquez, Rafael Lay et La Orquesta Aragon, ainsi que El Cuarteto Los De Enrique.

C’est en 1990 que Caridad monte sur scène, dans les hôtels Costa Sur et Ancón à Trinidad, Cuba. On la verra ensuite chanter à La Havane pendant dix ans sur plusieurs scènes reconnues telles que l’ Hotel Vedado, la Casa del Thé, le Bosque de Bologna, le Bar Monserrate, le Café Paris, El Patio, la Villa Panaméricana et le Cabaret Alibar. En 2002, elle lance son premier album: Caridad Cruz con el Grupo Habanero Son.

À l'automne 2003, Caridad s’installe à Chelsea au Québec en compagnie de son époux canadien, Michael Bein. Elle consacre sa première performance canadienne au printemps 2004 à Toronto aux côtés de Jane Bunnett and The Spirits of Havana, lors du concert Global Divas. Ce concert lui vaut des critiques élogieuses au Globe and Mail pour ensuite faire l’objet d’une radiodiffusion nationale à la CBC. Caridad enchaîne alors avec une seconde performance à Toronto, à l’extérieur cette fois, devant 1 000 spectateurs au Harbourfront Centre. Accompagnée de David Virelles, étoile montante au piano, et de Luisito Orbegoso, maître des congas, elle chantera avec brio en ouverture du concert d'Angélique Kidjo, la célèbre chanteuse franco-africaine.

Pendant sa tournée de 2006, Caridad s’exécute à New York, au New Jersey et au Connecticut. Elle est alors accompagnée de deux musiciens renommés de la scène du jazz-latin New-Yorkais, soit le contre-bassiste Ruben Rodriguez et le conguero Chembo Corniel. De retour à Montréal, elle offre un hommage à Celia Cruz, appuyée par l’ensemble salsa Ritmo Caribeño, composé de neuf musiciens. Ce concert sera repris au Festival de Jazz 2006 de Montréal.

La chanteuse explose littéralement sur scène à Ottawa en 2007. Tour à tour, on peut la voir à la Scène Québec du Centre National des Arts, au Festival de Jazz d’Ottawa et au Bluesfest d’Ottawa. Le Ottawa Citizen la consacre en titrant: « La Havanaise Caridad Cruz y va d’un coup puissant ».

En 2008, Caridad fait la primeur au Carnaval des Cultures du Théâtre Astrolabe. Elle retourne sur la scène du Festival de Jazz d’Ottawa et paraît à la télévision Rogers accompagnée de César Ricardo. Elle crève la 4e scène du Centre National des Arts à deux reprises.

En 2009, elle participe aux célébrations de la Fête du Canada du parc Major’s Hill et au Festival Son et Lumière au casino du Lac Leamy. Elle retourne au Festival de Jazz d’Ottawa cette même année et à deux reprises en 2010. L’un des spectacles sera radiodiffusé d’un océan à l’autre sur la chaîne de Radio Canada et rendu disponible sur internet sous la rubrique Concerts on Demand. En 2010, Caridad et César feront leur troisième apparition à la 4e scène du CNA dans le cadre du World Music Showcase de la station radiophonique CHIN.

Caridad garde toujours des liens étroits avec sa famille et la musique cubaine. C’est avec fierté qu’elle exprime son amour pour son pays d'origine à travers sa musique.

Caridad Cruz

Caridad Cruz Vilain nació en Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba en el seno de una familia con ascendencia musical, que por vía paterna descuella en su padre Daniel Cruz, violinista profesional, y Celia Cruz paradigma de la música latina, mas conocida como la “Reina de la Salsa”.

Inspirada en estas dos personas tan importantes para ella decide estudiar música durante tres años en la Escuela de Superación Técnica y Profesional “Ignacio Cervantes”, donde fue discípula

de grandes músicos como: Argelia Fragoso, Carmen Pedroso, Luis Carbonell, Margarita Orutinier, Beatriz Márquez; quienes jugaron un papel muy importante en su formación como profesional.

En su manera de interpretar la música hay referentes imprescindibles como: Pablo Milanes, Félix Chapotin, Elena Burke, Omara Portuondo, Beatriz Márquez, La Orquesta Aragón; que posibilitaron conformar en ella un estilo propio al expresar la música cubana.

Comienza su carrera profesional en 1990, expandiendo su voz en centros turísticos de diferentes provincias del país y de La Ciudad de La Habana. Integra las agrupaciones “Sonoridad”, “Estrellas Cubanas”, “Caribú”, cuarteto “Los de Enrique”, “Orquesta Panorama” dirigida por Alberto Corrales, cuarteto “Habanero Son”, septeto “Havana Club”, y la Brigada Artística dirigida por Paco Angarica. Sus mas de diez años de ardua labor fructifican en el 2002 con su primer CD titulado “Caridad Cruz con el grupo Habanero Son”.

Viaja a Canadá (donde reside actualmente) en otoño de 2003 y en marzo de 2004 debuta en la ciudad de Toronto en

el concierto internacional “Global Divas”, organizado por la famosa saxofonista y flautista Jane Bunnett y transmitido a nivel nacional por la CBC Radio. En éste evento Caridad recibió excelentes críticas del periodico “Globe and Mail”. Después, en ese mismo año, aparece en el “Harbourfront Centre” frente a 1000 personas, y donde compartió con excelentes músicos como: David Virelles y el maestro Luisito Orbegoso, siendo además la que abrió el concierto de la estrella afro-francesa Angelique Kidjo.

En el 2006 realizó una gira por New York, New Jersey y Connecticut, acompañada por algunos excelentes intérpretes del Jazz Latino de New York entre los que se encontraban Rubén Rodríguez y Chembo Corniel. En el verano de ese año participa en el Festival Internacional de Jazz de Montreal, junto a la potente banda de salsa “Ritmo Caribeño”, homenajeando a Celia Cruz con algunas de las canciones de la desaparecida salsera.

En la ciudad de Ottawa, en el 2007, impresiona con sus presentaciones en el festival “Quebec Scene” celebrado en el Centro Nacional de Arte; así como en el Festival de Jazz y el Bluesfest, cuyos resultados se reflejan en lo afirmado por el “Ottawa Citizen” cuando señala “La Cubana Caridad Cruz Pegó Con Fuerza”.

Durante el 2008 y 2009 ha sido la figura principal del “Carnaval de las Culturas”, y repite nuevamente su presencia en el Festival de Jazz de Ottawa. Aparece además en la televisión en el canal Rogers, junto a César Ricardo; participó en la conmemoración del “Día de Canadá” de la Comisión de La Capital Nacional, y hace dos presentaciones en el Cuarto Escenario del Centro Nacional de Arte, donde puso a aplaudir al público hasta el delirio.

Se mantiene aún muy unida a su familia, a Cuba y a su música, razones por las que siente gran orgullo.

Short Bio

Caridad Cruz When Caridad Cruz immigrated to Canada in 2003 after a 10-year career singing in the hotels and night spots of her native Cuba, she brought with her what The Globe and Mail called a "warm ocean of a voice."

Since her nationally broadcasted Canadian debut, Caridad has toured the New York area and taken her mix of salsa, Latin jazz, and traditional Cuban songs to the Montreal Jazz Festival, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Bluesfest, National Capital Canada Day celebrations, and the National Arts Centre.

"Havana native Caridad Cruz packs a powerful punch," pronounced the Ottawa Citizen. "She's an entertainer, a crowd pleaser. With her powerful voice and no-holds-barred personality, she knows how to get people up dancing and singing."

Heating things up with spicy Latin tunes Havana native Caridad Cruz packs a powerful punch

Celeste Mackenzie, The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Thursday, April 26, 2007, Arts Section, Page 1 To really appreciate Caridad Cruz's music, you have to see her perform live. She's an entertainer, a crowd pleaser. With her powerful voice and no-holds-barred personality, she knows how to get people up dancing and singing along to a traditional Cuban song, Tito Puente's Oye Como Va, or a standard from her famous relative Celia Cruz, the late, great, "Queen of Salsa." Such was the scene not-too-long ago at Zaphod Beeblebrox, where the Havana native and Chelsea resident and her six-piece band Kubacua performed to a packed house of mostly Latin Americans, along with a good contingent of what seemed to be non-Latins doing their best to move their hips the right way. It seems other music tastemakers in the area have taken notice as well. Both the Ottawa Jazz Festival and Bluesfest have booked her for their summer lineups, and she plays Barrymore's Music Hall on Saturday night as part of the NAC's Quebec Scene festival.

Kubacua's makeup seemed to reflect the audience: members are originally from Cuba, Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Cruz put the band together in May 2006 after chance meetings and hearing about musicians in the area through word of mouth. Not only is she pleased with the quality of the musicians, Cruz likes their varied backgrounds as well. "I really like that the band is not just made up of just Cubans, because I'm interested in playing other styles of music, besides Cuban," Cruz said in halting but determined English.

Caridad Cruz Black Sheep Inn owner Paul Symes says it's taken Cruz a while to get the right band together, but the result at his club has been an audience that can't resist dancing. "It's the ultimate, when an audience gives energy back through some sort of engagement like clapping, cheering and dancing, and at Caridad's show the audience can't resist the impulse to move," Symes said. The singer is also part of a jazz and blues trio with Kubacua's guitarist and bassist. They began performing this year, one of their goals being to appeal to a wider audience. These are genres she's already familiar with, thanks to the records of American jazz greats she listened to as a child in Havana. Soon she hopes to sing some standards in both English and French. Composing her own material is another goal. "I want to write. I've had ideas before, but I never wrote. I've dreamed a lot, but I feel more mature now, so I want to write and find someone who can compose the music," Cruz said. Carlos Fresquet, a Cuban resident of Ottawa who was at the Zaphod's show, says some original material might just be what Cruz needs to really make a name for herself.

"She's very good, she's got the right voice for this sort of style, as well as lots of charisma. In Cuba, there are so many great singers that she wouldn't be very original there, but she puts on a great show that's unique for Ottawa. She is already well-known within the Cuban community here, and Cubans like to see her perform. With some original material, she could really stand out one day." Cruz grew up listening to many Cuban musicians including Celia Cruz (a cousin of her grandmother). She says she's sorry she never met Celia, who left Cuba before her birth and never returned. "I never met her, but I feel like I knew her. I would have liked to," Cruz laments. There are similarities in their performance style, but Cruz says she'd never even seen Celia on television until she immigrated to Canada in 2003 after marrying Chelsea resident Michael Bein. The two met in 1999 during a show in Havana, and he's now her manager. Cruz began her professional career in 1993 performing in bars and hotels in and outside Havana with her own group. Just before leaving Cuba, they recorded a CD. She says it's been difficult restarting her career in Canada while at the same time learning French and English and getting used to everything else that's new for her. "I want to be famous!" Cruz says with a laugh that, like her singing voice, fills up the room. "But in Ottawa, there are so few opportunities. Many musicians in Toronto ask me, 'What are you doing in Ottawa?' There are so few events. I would like to play in a salsa festival, for example, but that just doesn't exist," Cruz said. Indeed, Cruz got her first big break in Canada when she met Toronto jazz musician Jane Bunnett at a concert shortly after moving here. An invitation from Bunnett followed to sing in a 2004 Global Divas concert in Toronto broadcast by CBC Radio. Since then, Cruz has performed in some small clubs in the New York, New Jersey and Montreal, and is getting more bookings in the national capital area. She says appearing at Ottawa festivals is an important signal that her career is on the right track. "I'm new to Canada, so this is a very good sign," Cruz said. "This give me even more motivation than ever to compose some of my own songs." Caridad Cruz plays Barrymore's Music Hall Saturday; Comunidad Sagrada Familia, 152 Glenora St., May 19; the Ottawa Jazz Festival June 22 and Bluesfest July 12. Tickets & times for most shows at ticketmaster.ca.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2007

Divine vocalizations By LI ROBBINS Special to The Globe and Mail Friday, March 26, 2004 - Page R10 Global Divas: International Celebration of Women and Song At Kool Haus In Toronto on Wednesday Define diva. The choices are few -- either she's an operatic prima donna or a sultry singer of torch songs. Or perhaps an arrogant temperamental shrew. The "global" divas performing on Wednesday night added another shade of meaning, based on origins of the word, the Latin divus meaning divine. These divas, performing at a fundraising gala for St. Stephen's Community House in Toronto, looked divine and sang divinely, in a setting not necessarily calculated to bring out the best in a musician. Each had about three songs in which to unleash her musical best, with minimal pregame rehearsal. Unleash they did, starting with Suba Sankaran, who has an endearing way with both South Indian music and jazz. The latter featured Sankaran the scat singer, possessing a startlingly pure upper register never hinted at in her husky-voiced South Indian material. Brazilian-born Monica Freire was up next. Singing music shaped by Bahia, the Brazilian state where Africa's musical footprint is most pronounced, Freire's performance was all velvety voice, marvellous percussive vocalizing, and a stage presence that was one part sweet, one part sensual. One of the most anticipated performers in the lineup was Caridad Cruz, relative of the late Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz. Based on this Canadian debut performance, Caridad Cruz seems well on her way to royal status herself, with a warm ocean of a voice that ignited the "house band," Jane Bunnett's Spirits of Havana. (Who proved that, along with their leader, they are also the spirits of any number of other capital cities, supporting each singer's material with deft, empathetic backing.) Although most of these Canadian-based divas have immigration tales, Oumou Soumare probably has come the farthest, culturally speaking -- her journey taking her from Mali to Moncton. Soumare's grace and voice are perfectly suited to the compelling groove of her music, a groove the band slipped into part way through one number that sounded like a Malian take on South African township jive crossed with Thelonious Monk. Catarina Cardeal followed Soumare with fado and fado-influenced Portuguese song, moving from jaunty to emotion-drenched, all sung in a supple, commanding voice. An equally strong performer rounded out the evening, the award-winning Haitian-born Emeline Michel. Her voice can move from earthy to operatic -- and did. Michel also spoke of the troubles in her birthplace, and performed one piece she described as a reminder that what ties people together is love. What tied these six disparate singers together was a notable degree of talent and professionalism (and great outfits). Perhaps love as well, for in the end all singers returned to the stage for one final cross-cultural jam. Fitting for a "global" diva. http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040326/DIVAS26/Entertainment/Idx

NOW Magazine | JUN 24 - 30, 2004 | VOL. 23 NO. 43

KIDJO BRINGS HEAT BENIN'S SOUL SISTA NUMBER ONE WARMS UP CHILLED HARBOURFRONT CROWD

BY JASON RICHARDS

ANGELIQUE KIDJO with CARIDAD CRUZ at Harbourfront Centre, June 19. Tickets: $25. Attendance: 1,000. Rating: NNNN

It was colder than being cool at Harbourfront Centre 's outdoor stage at around 8 pm, when fire-spirited opener Caridad Cruz erupted into life. Stashed in the Latin artist's arsenal was a killer three-piece band, vicious mambo steps driving her voluptuous figure, a shimmering Beyoncé wig and a voice that could easily be confused with that of her namesake, elder Cuban music icon Celia Cruz.

Many in the audience were business-class bohemians with one common goal: to shut off their cellphones, forget what a fax machine sounds like and get loose. That's why people were catching the vapours, standing up and yelling "Azúcar!" and dancing at the sides.

It should be said that although Cruz was a blazing opener, the drawn-out double encore wasn't required.

After 45 minutes of dead air, the slight, sprightly and wholly wonderful Angélique Kidjo came out in a black pantsuit with bright red flares, gold jewellery adorning her neck and arms and matching her hair.

With her four-man band, she blasted right into uplifting songs from her new album, Oyaya! – Yoruba for joy.

"Now, you know the rules," said Kidjo in her mellifluous West African accent. "You gotta dance when you feel like it. And the reason you have to dance is because it's really cold, rig ht?"

They danced to her cover of Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Chile, and they danced to all the rest of her global jam-outs. For that matter, so did Kidjo, and she looked like she was having the time of her life.

While I dislike the term "world music" (what, did rock and roll begin on Jupiter?), Kidjo's four-language mastery of sounds from R&B to diaspora to salsa to compas to ska to jazz to rock does live up to it.

With her deep, wood-textured pipes, Kidjo (even though she had laryngitis that night, I later found out) was from start to finish a culture-shocking powerhouse – not to mention great fodder for water-cooler chit-chat Monday morning.

NOW | JUN 24 - 30, 2004 | VOL. 23 NO. 43

César Ricardo Born in the beautiful coastal town of Gibara in eastern Cuba, César Ricardo Caballero developed his passion for music in the quiet countryside where many nights were spent singing and playing guitar and clave with his father, grandfather and uncle. César's early influences were the 'feeling' and ‘trovadores’ movements of the early 70's-80's. Great musicians from this period like Silvio Rodriguez and Pablo

Milanes forever changed the Cuban music scene. César’s musical talents first began to attract attention as he made winning first prize in both the guitar and singing categories at music festival competitions a habit. He took private instruction in music theory and harmony from the respected jazz pianist Orestes Escalona. He also studied classical and popular guitar with the great bassist Señor Antonio Cuence (known in Cuba as Tonito), who remains the director of several well known Cuban bands and is a member of musicians in Holguin City. Under Tonito’s

tutelage, César developed his own unique style and an ear for other styles, and hhoned his talent for writing original compositions and scores. He gainedadmittance to the Holguin City Professional Music Acadamy, worked his way through, and successfully completed all required provincial examinations. Fbars and hotels around Cuba, notably the El Faro in Gibara and hotels AtlanticoGuardalavaca and Las Brisas in Holguin Province. Icontinued to write music, remained active as a singer and guitar player and attracted a host of very talented musical friends. Much sought after in the locmusical community, he has made appearances at the Ottawa Jazz Festival, Bluesfest, Tulip Festival, Gatineau Festival, Carnival of Cultures and the OttEx. Htimes the two have played together at the National Arts Centre Fourth Stage (twice as a duet), and a duet performance of theirs was broadcast on Rogers T

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V. A synergetic collaboration between the two stellar Cubans is ongoing.

FOR BOOKING POUR ENGAGER PARA CONTRATAR

MICHAEL BEIN 851 ROUTE 105 CHELSEA, QUEBEC CANADA J9B 1P3 (819) 827-0374 mbein@magma.ca

CCAARRIIDDAADD CCRRUUZZ

www.caridadcruz.com

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