Daymé Arocena
+ Havana Club Rumba Sessions: La Clave (film)
Singer, composer, arranger, choir director and band leader, Daymé Arocena at 23 years, is a skilful, charismatic new presence in Cuban music.
Daymé follows a decades-long tradition of female artists, including Omara Portuondo and Elena Burke, who adopted American standards to create the smoky jazz style called filin. With her deep vocals and Afro-Cuban religious spirit, Arocena recalls the powerhouse Mayra Caridad Valdes, best known for performing with her brother Chucho Valdes’ band Irakere.
But with her new recordings for Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label Daymé is very much creating her own new twenty first century Cuban musical line.
Doors open at 7.30pm and the night begins at 7.50pm sharp with a screening of the music documentary La Clave, which features Daymé Arocena alongside a host of Cuban rumba greats in a filmic exploration that continues Gilles Peterson’s love affair with roots music on the island.
Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult.