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The Pace Report: "Nueva Era" The Daymé Arocena Interview

Welcome to this special edition of the Pace Report featuring the American debut of vocalist, Dayme Arocena, performing live at Subrosa in New York City. Brownswood Records founder, producer, and international DJ Giles Peterson went to Cuba and developed a musical project titled the "Havana Cultural Series" in which he recorded and documented some of the country's best up and coming musicians. His goal was to release these artists via his record label but to work on their recordings and bring them to a international following.

One of the artists Giles is excited about is Cuban-born vocalist Daymé Arocena who just released her debut recording "Nueva Era" on the Brownswood Records imprint. Dayme grew up in the Diez de Octubre neighborhood in Havana, Cuba. In her debut project she wrote most of the songs and stayed very true to her Afro-Cuban roots. As a child she was exposed to jazz music by her Dad. While growing up Daymé in Havana she graduated from the music education system where she was a choir director. She also sang vocals in the legendary Los Primos Big Band led by her mentor, Joaquín Betancourt. Daymé recently made her debut here in the States and played New York City to a series of three nights of sold-out shows at Subrosa. I had the chance to speak with Daymé during her time here and we talked about her experiences at performing at South By Southwest, collaborating with producer Giles Peterson, and her deep Afro-Cuban roots via the history of the music and her religion, Santería.