Leslie Cartaya Ft Raymer Olalde- No Pares- (Live) at Mai Tardi.mp4

Leslie Cartaya was born in Cuba, in a small town in the Havana province. She developed a passion for music very early in life. Learning songs by ear from the radio, she would perform them for family and friends standing on a chair with a bottle as a microphone. Leslie was very lucky to grow up in a musical family. Her grandpa was a great singer and her cousins Roly and Pepin Rivero played guitar and sang. They were her first teachers and mentors, introducing her to old Cuban music. She was so determined to become a musician that at the age of twelve she went away from home to the "Escuela Nacional de Arte" in Havana where she studied for six years and graduated with a degree in choir direction. Although the school's curriculum was based on classical music, teachers and students introduced Leslie to other styles of music such as Jazz, Hip Hop and Latin American music. She participated in various recording projects such as Here Comes El Son, a Cuban record with music from The Beatles, as well as Romance De Chiquillos by Azucar Band.
In December of 2000 Leslie moved to the United States and established herself in Miami where she began her career as a singer/songwriter. In Miami, Leslie has worked with artists such as Marisela Verena, Carlos y Marta and Luis Enrique. She is also part of Cubiche, and underground movement of young Cuban musicians, directed by Descemer Bueno.
In July of 2003 Leslie joined producer Steve Roitstein in his idea to create a musical group that would mix Afrocuban music with American Funk. They started writing the songs and asked fellow musicians Raymer Olalde, Philbert Armenteros and Ed Calle to join them in this musical trip. Together they came up with the record "This is Afrocuban Funk" catalogued by The New York Post as "Cuban music for the new generation". Today PALO! is one of the must popular groups in Miami, and this success has taken the group to other cities like Chicago, Boston and New York.
Leslie Cartaya's voice has influences from Cuban music, Brazilian music, jazz, hip hop, funk and Latin American music. This combination gives her a very unique style that ranges from soothing to extremely danceable. Leslie is currently working in her first solo album that will feature her original music.

Recorded Live at Mai Tardi
April 7th, 2011

Keyboard & Vocals by Leslie Cartaya
Percussion by Raymer Olalde

Video Director - Ralf Gonzalez
"A" Camera Op - Eddy Acosta