In this episode, Vivian Moinelle explores the concept of migration with her friends Camila Cortina and Xiomara Laugart, both from Cuba. They discuss the impact of migration on their careers as musicians, while the show also travels through different sounds, drawing connections to the diaspora through electronic music.

With Guests: Xiomara Laugart Sánchez is a Cuban singer currently based in New York City. Before emigrating to the United States, Laugart had an extensive career performing nueva trova music in Cuba and recording over 17 albums. Laugart is known for her work with the group Yerba Buena, whose first album, President Alien, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Yerba Buena’s second album, Island Life, was released in 2005. It is a brilliant mix of rhythms to which Laugart added her African and Caribbean legacy. Laugart was cast in 2007 as Celia Cruz in the Off-Broadway musical Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz, a tribute to the life of the late Cuban-American singer, which ran at New World Stages until May 2008.

Camila Cortina Bello is a pianist, educator, musicologist and composer. Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1988, she has taken the stage in her home country and has performed for audiences around the world. Her music intends to re-imagine the sounds and rhythms of her original Cuban roots through the lens of jazz, classical, and world music. She feels like fusion and cross-overs are as intrinsic to her work as to her “mulato” DNA. The memories she carries from her home country play a very important role in her artistic identity, but also the realities that have surrounded her while living away. Camila is currently based in New York.