Carmiña Cabrera
chant, guitare, composition

At the age of ten Carmiña received her first guitar, and by 12 she was already charming her school mates with her voice! She left her home town of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia at the age of 18 to study English in London, after which she arrived in Brussels and started playing the club circuit until guitarist Francis Goya invited her to participate in his Latin American project. Three albums oriented towards “Latin Pop” were born, one of which went gold in the Netherlands (its hit song, “Bahia Lady” also won the Edison 91 prize).
 
Fate conspired resulting in Carmiña’s first solo album, “Confidencias”, signed on the Dutch label "ZYX MUSIC" in 1995. The album, arranged and produced by Henri Greindl, presented a selection of Latin boleros, including five original interpretations in a totally acoustic environment.
 
However, despite the several thousand CDs sold, and that one of its songs, “Cancion a Ayrton”, was included in an American compilation album alongside artists as Caetano Veloso, ZYX records failed to market Carmiña’s work, which did not fit the framework of the strongly commercial character of the label. She found herself tied to her contract that bound her to discographic silence for several years...
 
Fortunately, the talent and the voice of Carmiña are far from being stifled by this episode, as one can realize when listening to “Mirando al Sur”, a compilation of original selections, seven of which were written in collaboration with Henri Greindl who arranged and produced the album.
 
With her warm and seductive voice, and her unique style, Carmiña sings in Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and, for the first time, in French (in “La Nuit”, and on the established standard “Les Moulins de Mon Coeur” by Michel Legrand).
 
A talented mix of musicians from the Belgian jazz and Latin scene participated in the creation of a musical landscape, colored by original poetry and sun, and the use of a medley of unique acoustical accompaniments. The ambiance is delicate and intimate, as in the boleros “Esperaré” (violin, bass, bongos), and “Laberinto de Passion” (Nono Garcia & Henri Greindl on guitars), as well as vivacious and upbeat, as in the sambas “Deixa Falar”, or the mambos “America Herida” and “Mambo pa’ Maria”.