Cuban jazz singer brings her soulful voice to SJU

In February, SFJAZZ staged its 2018 Gala in San Francisco to honor the New Orleans’ Preservation Hall with a Lifetime Achievement Award, which included a bevy of all-star jazz performances.

The musicians included a who’s who list of jazz artists: pianist Ellis Marsalis, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, clarinetist Charlie Gabriel, percussionists Pedrito Martinez and Stanton Moore and the Pinettes Brass Band.

But one performer stood above the rest, according to JamBase, an online database and news portal of live music and festivals.

“It was the voice of the Afro-Cuban jazz singer Daymé Arocena that completely stole the show. Barefoot and clad in a white dress, Arocena enthralled the room with a hushed piano duet that showcased her deep, soulful, pitch-perfect voice,” JamBase wrote.

Arocena is performing at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 4, at the Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, Saint John’s University as part of Fine Arts Series at the College of Saint Benedict and SJU.

She had originally been scheduled to perform in November at SJU, but her tour was delayed when the U.S. State Department decided to suspend the processing of visas at the U.S. Consulate in Havana.

It has been a big year for Arocena, who was nominated for a 2017 MOBO Award in Europe for best jazz act on Oct. 24. She was one of five nominees for the award that ultimately went to drummer Moses Boyd.

According to her website, Arocena draws “inspiration from the intertwining musical legacies of her native Cuba. A singer, composer and choir director, she’s a bright-shining performer carrying the flame for a new generation of Cuban musicians, (combining) jazz, soul and classical influences with an innate sense of rhythm.”

She has released four recordings, her latest being “Cubafonia” in March 2017. “One Takes” came out in 2016, “Nueva Era” and an EP, “The Havana Cultura Sessions,” both were released in 2015. All were on the Brownswood Recording label.

Arocena will also work with students from CSB and SJU while on campus.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, CSB and SJU faculty and staff $18, youth/student (with ID) $15 and CSB and SJU students $10. The event is sponsored in part by Proviant Group.

For tickets, call the Benedicta Arts Center Box Office at 320-363-5777 or order online.

Arocena’s performance is made possible through Southern Exposure: Performing Arts of Latin America, a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

The activity is also made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.