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Estrella was born in Havana and later lived in the United States, Mexico and Brazil, yet she never stopped singing the folksongs of her motherland. "At home we kept Cuban culture alive: we spoke Spanish, ate black beans and rice and sang and danced to the records of Celia Cruz and Beny Moré - but I was also influenced by Afro-American and Brazilian culture and music, especially by Billie Holiday, Elis Regina and Tom Jobim."

After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in cultural anthropology, she studied singing and started her first band playing a blend of jazz, Brazilian and Cuban music. She traveled to New York, Brazil and finally found her home in Amsterdam, where she now lives. Estrella performed with great musicians like Toninho Horta, Craig Handy, Edy Martinez, Mauricio Einhorn, and Claudio Roditi.

In 1996 she brought out her first cd Navegando de La Habana a Rio featuring her lyrics and compositions by participating musicians, Brazilian pianist Luizao Paiva and Uruguayan guitarist Leonardo Amuedo. This recording received enthousiastic reviews from the Dutch and international press.

On her second cd Alma Guajira, nominated for an Edison award, Estrella takes you on a trip through the Cuban countryside with her fresh take on traditional songs, played with all the flavor and spontaneity that is so typical of this music, la música guajira. The recording is a tribute to her motherland and to her family from San Jose de los Ramos in the province of Matanzas, where she spent much of her youth. Together with her team of the best Cuban musicians in Europe, who know how to make the music swing, Estrella presents a new outlook on the música guajira combining this traditional style with contemporary arrangements and original interpretations.

Estrella has appeared at the Brussels Viva Brasil Festival, the Curaçao Jazz Festival, the Heineken Jazz Festival, the Dunya Multicultural Festival and three editions of the North Sea Jazz Festival. She performed at renowned clubs like the BIMhuis (Amsterdam), Sounds of Brasil (New York City), Ronnie Scott's (London), and all major venues in the Netherlands.

The VPRO Dutch televison program Vrije Geluiden invited Estrella and her band for a feature on their program. It was broadcasted Sunday May 6, 2007 on the Nederland 2 channel. She participated with the full band and also in duo with Cuban guitarist/tresero Carlos Irarragorri.

In September 2007, Estrella's Guajira toured the USA and Canada playing at the Madison World Music Festival, World Music Chicago 2007 and Small World Music Festival in Toronto.
Thanks to the FAPK, the Dutch fund for the performing arts, and the NAF, the Netherland-America Foundation and the Dutch Consulate in Chicago for making this project possible.

Thanks for checking us out, and we hope you get a chance to see and hear more... ¡Aché!