Raised in Florida in a Cuban household, Victoria Cardona cut her teeth playing as a one woman show. The singer and multi-instrumentalist toured live performing with a looper to create a full band sound. She just released her debut album Que Paso, featuring a line-up of sought-after players — Jimmy Haslip, Bill Payne (of Little Feat), Justo Almario and Francisco Torres. It’s a blend of Latin jazz, with Afro-Cuban vibes and elements of rock and salsa.
Growing up, Victoria was influenced by legendary performers like Cecelia Cruz and Gloria Estefan. After studying jazz guitar, she developed her live-looping style as a way to play solo. She just completed a tour that included stops across the Eastern U.S. and Europe.
Que Paso, is a diverse collection of songs ranging from danceable Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean tracks like George From Heaven, and Me Voy Pa La Playa to more atmospheric sounds like Slow Burn and Tuesday Rain. The lead track, Que Paso En La Habana, sets the sonic tone for the album.
Cardona's band of seasoned musicians provides a solid platform for her strong, effortless voice and instrumental prowess — she's credited on the album with playing guitar, bass, drums, percussion, piano, organ, and steel drums. Her tasty guitar licks on the solo of the Little Feat classic, Spanish Moon (sung partly in Spanish) are particularly memorable.
Watch her in action in this live, solo performance of Que Paso En La Habana:
Que Paso is a fun and uplifting first effort, and hard not to dance to. I expect we'll hear much more from Cardona in the future.
Hear tracks from Que Paso on Open Air, weekdays 9am-3pm on JPR's Rhythm and News Service.
