Tag: Yeisy Rojas LATINO feat. Manolito Simonet and Ricardo Amaray

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Yeisy Rojas Returns with Hopeful “¿Dónde está el amor?”

JOVM mainstay Yeisy Rojas is a Grammy Award-nominated and Latin Grammy Award-nominated Cuban-born, Oslo-based, classically trained, jazz violinist, singer/songwriter and composer.

Her recently released album Inmigrante features the previously released “LATINO” and the album’s latest single “¿Dónde está el amor?” “¿Dónde está el amor?” begins with a cinematic jazz pop introduction in which the JOVM mainstay’s excessive vocal is accompanied with piano and subtly Latin percussion before morphing to a decidedly upbeat soul and gospel-influenced — with the song moving from heartbreak to joy and hope.

“The song grew out of a question that kept coming back to me as I looked at the world around us: Why do we treat each other this way? Where is the love?” The Oslo-based artist says. ” I wrote it sitting at the piano, moved by the sadness and helplessness I felt watching a world becoming increasingly divided—shaped by conflict, persecution, raids, hatred, and a growing lack of empathy. But I didn’t want to write a song rooted in hopelessness. I wanted to turn those feelings into something that could remind us of what still connects us. Musically, “¿Dónde está el amor?” begins as an intimate, vulnerable ballad, gradually weaving in Afro-Cuban rhythms through the tumbadoras. It continues to build until it opens into a powerful gospel choir, where gospel and Afro-Cuban rhythms come together in a call for unity, hope, and love. What begins as a deeply personal question ultimately becomes a collective voice—an invitation to rediscover our empathy and remember the humanity we share, especially in times of profound division. Rather than trying to provide an answer, I hope the song leaves one question lingering long after the music ends: amid everything that separates us today, where is the love?”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Yeisy Rojas Teams Up with Manolito Simonet and Ricardo Amaray on Defiantly Celebratory “LATINO”

Yeisy Rojas is a Cuban-born, Oslo-based, classically trained, jazz violinist, singer/songwriter and composer. In her native Cuba, Rojas received a classical education and performed as a violinist with the National Opera Orchestra in Havana. Her passion for jazz led her to relocate to Norway, where she pursued her Masters studies in jazz violin at Kristiansand-based University of Agder‘s Conservatory.  The cross-cultural experience allowed Rojas to deepen her understanding of the African influences in Cuban music. 

‘Rojas’ latest single “LATINO,” feat. Manolito Simonet and Ricardo Amaray is an upbeat tune built around twinkling keys, big brassy horns and driving, Afro-Latino polyrhythm inspired by 1990’s Cuban timba energy that manages to be simultaneously thoughtful and dance floor friendly. As a native New Yorker, “LATINO” reminds me of listening to Mega 97.9 in the 90s and teenaged house parties in and around Corona — but at its core, is a defiantly upbeat message of unity and belonging.

“LATINO” was written as a response to the increasingly divisive rhetoric that has dehumanized and villainized migrants and Latino communities across the US and elsewhere. Informed by her own experience, the song reminds listeners of a profound yet simple truth: every person on Earth deserves respect, dignity and respect while being an anthem for Antone who has felt judged because of their origins, their heritage, their accent, their food or anything else. And in turn, the song serves as a celebration of the things that are both universal and unique about all of us. In our incredibly divisive times, it’s a deeply humanistic reminder of all the things we should be celebrating and cherishing.