Caridad Cruz

Artist Information

Biography

Caridad Cruz 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 such as 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 congero 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.

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 Arts section front page 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.

Instrumentation

Caridad Cruz - Vocals and Percussion
Miguel Angel de Armas - Piano
César Ricardo - Vocals, Guitar
Rick Rangno - Trumpet
Marc Decho - Bass
Arien Villegas - Percussion
Reynier Garcia - Congas

Discography

Caridad Cruz con El Grupo Habanero Son - CD, recorded in Havana in 2002, with the following tracks:
01 De Cuba a México
02 Carnaval
03 Quizás, Quizás
04 Chan Chan
05 El Manisero
06 Bésame Mucho
07 De Que Callada Manera
08 Sabor a Mí
09 El Paralítico
10 Hasta Siempre Comandante
11 La Gloria Eres Tú
12 Guántanamera

Many of these have been aired on CBC, CHIN Radio, CHUO and other stations in Canada and USA. Several of these tracks are included in this EPK. Three of them can also be heard at www.CaridadCruz.com.

SECOND ANNUAL GLOBAL DIVAS GALA CONCERT,
JANE BUNNETT AND THE SPIRITS OF HAVANA WITH GUESTS, AN INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATION OF WOMEN AND SONG, recorded MARCH 24, 2004. Three tracks featuring Caridad Cruz:
1 De Cuba A Mexico
2 Proposiciones
3 Y Decidete Mi Amor
were aired twice on CBC's Global Village program in 2004. Track 3 has received subsequent airplay on CBC and also is available at www.CaridadCruz.com. All three tracks are included in this EPK. All are ©CBC.

On August 13, 2008, Rogers TV in Ottawa aired Caridad Cruz and César Ricardo in the debut performance of César's composition "Libro Abierto". On the same show, they also sang Pepe Ordás' composition "Son para ti". Both videos are available on YouTube.

CHIN Radio World Music Showcase: Caridad Cruz and Colores Andinos -- concert recorded October 23, 2008 in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre Fourth Stage, for CHIN Radio:
01 Chan Chan
02 Besame Mucho
03 Oye Como Va
04 Bachata Momentos
05 Yolanda
06 Para Vivir
07 De Que Callada Manera
08 Guántanamera
09 Carnaval

Babes for Breasts - A Fundraiser for Breast Cancer, concert, recorded October 25, 2008 at the NAC Fourth Stage, starring Ana Miura, Amanda Rheaume, Caridad Cruz, NLX: Natasha Alexandra and Q the Romantic Revolutionary. Aired Jan. 31, 2009 on CBC Radio One "Bandwidth" and Feb. 4, 2009 on CBC Radio 2 "Canada Live", and available on "Concerts on Demand" (link below).

Caridad Cruz at the Ottawa Jazz Festival 2010 - Caridad's 9-piece band recorded by CBC on June 28, 2010 and aired on "Canada Live" July 15, 2010 on Radio 2 and July 16, 2010 on Radio One, and now featured on "Concerts on Demand" (link below).
Track Listing for this Concert:
1 Nuestro Amor Nacio en Cuba, César Ricardo (composer) 8:54
2 Dias Traidores, César Ricardo (composer) 4:19
3 Yolanda, Pablo Milanes (composer) 5:50
4 Chan Chan, Compay Segundo (composer) 6:51
5 Tu Nombre, Haydee Milanes (composer) 5:17
6 Proposiciónes, Pablo Milanes (composer) 10:48
Artists
•Caridad Cruz - vocals (Cuba)
•César Ricardo - guitar, vocals (Cuba)
•Israel Martinez - guitar (Mexico)
•Armando Delfin Marsal - trumpet (Cuba)
•Carlos Santana - keyboards (Mexico)
•Julián Zapata - keyboard (Colombia)
•Marc Decho - bass (Canada)
•Arien Villegas - drums (Cuba)
•René Fortier - congas (Canada).

Links

• Caridad Cruz at Sound of Light 2009
• Libro Abierto - Caridad Cruz and César Ricardo
• Ottawa Citizen Feature
• Caridad Cruz at the Ottawa Jazz Festival 2010

Audio

• Y Decidete Mi Amor (Global Divas 2004 live)
  Listen   Download
• Guántanamera (Live at Zaphod Beeblebrox)
  Listen   Download
• La Vida Es Un Carnaval (Habanero Son CD)
  Listen   Download
• Yo Quiero Volver (Live at Zaphod Beeblebrox)
  Listen   Download
• Proposiciones (Global Divas 2004 live)
  Listen   Download
• De Cuba A Mexico (Global Divas 2004 live)
  Listen   Download
• Chan Chan (Habanero Son CD)
  Listen   Download
• De Que Callada Manera (Habanero Son CD)
  Listen   Download
• Bésame Mucho (Habanero Son CD)
  Listen   Download
• Chan Chan (Live at Zaphod Beeblebrox)
  Listen   Download
• La Gloria Eres Tú (Habanero Son CD)
  Listen   Download
• Guántanamera (Habanero Son CD)
  Listen   Download

Video

Que Viva Changó

Photo Gallery

Press

• Heating things up with spicy Latin tunes [+ Show ]
  

  Heating things up with spicy Latin tunes Havana native Caridad Cruz packs a powerful punch Celeste...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.
  
  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
  
  http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/arts/story.html?id=b2bb681c-6332-43d7-9c27-1bcf515a75ec&k=32597

• Divine vocalizations [+ Show ]
  

  Divine vocalizations By LI ROBBINS Special to The Globe and Mail Friday, March 26, 2004 - Page...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
  

• ANGELIQUE KIDJO with CARIDAD CRUZ at Harbourfront Centre [+ Show ]
  

  NOW Magazine | JUN 24 - 30, 2004 | VOL. 23 NO. 43 KIDJO BRINGS HEAT BENIN'S SOUL SISTA NUMBER ON...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
  
  http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2004-06-24/music_livereviews.php

Setlist

Here are some of the many songs that Caridad Cruz does ...


Title (Genre) · Composer

Aguanile (Salsa)
Bachata Momentos (Bachata) · C. Ricardo/Y. Sanchez
Basilon (Cha cha cha) · Enrique Jorrin
Besame Mucho (Bolero) · Consuelo Velásquez
Capullito de Aleli (Son)
Chan Chan (Son) · Compay Segundo
Colegiala (Cumbia)
Corazon No Llores (Bolero)
De Que Callada Manera (Traditional) · Pablo Milanes
Dias Traidores · César Ricardo
Dos Gardenias (Bolero) · Isolina Carrilo
El Breve Espacio (Traditional Trova) · Pablo Milanes
El Traguito (Son)
Guántanamera (Guajira / Son) · Joseito Fernandez
Historia de un Amor (Merengue)
La Razon de Nuestro Canto · César Ricardo
Libro Abierto · César Ricardo
Lloraras (Salsa)
Lola (Salsa )
Mambo Influenciado (Mambo / Jazz)
Mas Que un Amigo (Cumbia)
Nuestro Amor Nacio en Cuba (Merengue) · César Ricardo
Oye Como Va (Latin Jazz) · Carlos Santana
Para Vivir (Traditional Trova)
Proposiciónes · Pablo Milanes
Quien Lo Cura (Cumbia)
Si Sigo Pensando en Ti (Salsa) · César Ricardo
Sin Tu Amor · César Ricardo
Sobrevivire (Disco / Salsa) · Perren/Fekaris
Tres Palabras (Bolero) · Chucho Valdes
Tu Nombre · Haydee Milanes
Veinte Anos (Cancion) · Maria Teresa Vera
La Vida es un Carnaval (Salsa) · Celia Cruz
Volver a la Tierra Mia (Son)
Yolanda (Cancion) · Pablo Milanes

Basic Requirements

Calendar