Fundarte. Mar 28th, 2009. 8:00 p.m. 
Xiomara Laugart is: "The Voice of Cuba". She has been representing her country and her people, performing at venues around the globe for years and along the biggest talents all over. She is a living legend in her native Cuba where she has recorded more than 15 albums.
For many years, Xiomara Laugart (La Negra) as she is popularly known, was Muse to the Nueva Trova artists. Xiomara is both the essence of the old Cuba, with its rhythmic folk songs, fused with a blend of today’s directness and clarity of voice, which is eventually matched with her deep laugh. It is that distinctive laugh that will soon captivate audiences from all walks of life with her swing style in all of her Cuban splendor. Obviously, we are not in presence of a common manufactured phenomenon. This singer has a peculiar mystery to reveal, not only her vocal virtues, and flexibility, but also a special sound, fluently “liquid” and garrulous. Her range is such that the jazz influences seem to be a natural extension of her repertoire. She takes on each style of music and embraces it with her own stamp and authentic flare. Ms. Laugart recently released her worldwide debut album for Chesky Records, a lavish and sophisticated collection of old and new songs written by Meme Solís and Andrés Levin, Descemer Bueno and with arrangements by Octavio Kotan and Axel Tosca.
Until recently, Ms. Laugart has been the leading vocalist in Yerba Buena, a New York collective with a brilliant mix of rhythms to which she added her African and Caribbean legacy. She has recorded and/or performed along names such as: Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Albita, Omara Portuondo, Jacky Terrasson, Omar Sosa, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Dave Valentin, Isaac Delgado, Carlinhos Brown, Arto Lindsay, Roy Hargrove, Ron Blake, Kip Hanrahan, MeShell Ndegeocello, Femi Kuti, D’Angelo, Macy Gray, Erykah Badu, Ana Torroja, Meme Solis, Many Oquendo & Libre, Fun Loving Criminals and Busta Rhymes, among many others, Her monthly showcases at New York City’s famed Zinc Bar have been called legendary. She has flooded the stage with her powerful voice around the entire world. Ms. Laugart appears in the film Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights and also appears in the German/Cuban film Paraíso Bajo las Estrellas.
Xiomara has now embarked on the enormous responsibility of representing, perhaps, one of the most important figures in Latin culture, Celia Cruz, the Queen of Latin Music, in the first ever theatre production based on the legendary late Cuban artist. Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz raised its curtain on September 26th, 2007 at New World Stages on Broadway, with a massive successful response on behalf of audience and critics, who fill the theater every day enjoying and remembering the late Queen of La Guaracha, through the amazing portrayal and incomparable voice of Xiomara Laugart.
Fundarte / Miami-Dade County Auditorium
2901 West Flagler Street
Miami, FL 33135
305. 316. 6165
www.fundarte.us
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