Yusa's Music

Click here para español>> La música de Yusa 

Every time Yusa performs, she takes the audience on her journey through music. When you attend a Yusa concert, you’re not there to listen but to feel. 

Her talent is undeniable, as she has been perfecting her craft for a long time, taking tunes from many genres and infusing her music with the sounds of every place she’s traveled.

Describing Yusa’s music is hard. You cannot categorize her; she likes it that way. She is a multi-instrumentalist; she sings, improvises, and dances. She never wants to be boxed in because her music is about feelings and experiences.

Yusa joined the conservatory in Cuba at age 9. As a little girl, she fell in love with the guitar when she saw the children of her caretaker practice their lessons. Her mother saw how music lit a fire inside her and recognized it was more than a brief infatuation. She saved some money and got Yusa her first guitar, offering the support she wished her mother would give her when she dreamed of being a singer. 

Thanks to her mother’s guidance, Yusa could pursue a demanding musical education in the conservatory in Cuba. She studied classical Guitar and became the first to graduate with studies on tres, a string instrument original to the Caribbean island. The tres was Yusa’s avenue to exploring Cuban music from the countryside and became her way to challenge the traditional training at the Conservatory, helping give folk music the place it deserved in the academy. 

Soon after graduation, she joined Son Los Que Son, a popular women-only band that needed a tres player, allowing her to perform and sing at the most famous Cuban venues. She could fill the 28-shows per month quota required to earn the salary as a musician in Cuba, and her dedication and hard work allowed her the privilege to tour internationally. 

Collaborating with friends who needed music for their theatre plays, Yusa found the need to write and compose. This event marked the birth of Yusa’s solo career. She got to tour Europe and Japan and earned nominations and an invitation from the BBC London to perform in Latin Voices, a concert where Yusa, Lila Downs, and Susana Baca were the stars. 

She founded Interactivo, a collective of incredible musicians, for which she was known in many places. In 2004 she participated in “Lenine in the Cité,” a live recording of a DVD of the recognized Brazilian musician who received two Grammys. She went back and forth, touring in the spring and fall. 

Her musician friend Santiago Feliu invited Yusa on his tour in South America. 

In Argentina, Yusa learned the extent of Latin American music beyond the canción protesta taught in Communist Cuba. She also realized she had already established an audience. When getting ready for a solo show, Yusa saw more than 200 people in the venue and thought, “This venue must do very well.” To her surprise, the audience sang her tunes and requested songs they knew from her collaboration with Lenine. 

“Argentina was a life-changing experience,” said Yusa. She settled in the Gaucho country for almost a decade. From there, she traveled all over Latin America and got a chance to learn the diverse folk rhythms from every region. She connected to her Latin culture, fell in love, and as her life went on, personal struggles got in the way of her life and career. It was time to move on, leave Argentina, and put her music on hold. So while searching for her inner peace, Yusa became a therapist and moved to Florida to work in her new field. Music became a side gig, and Yusa performed in Miami sometimes. The CubaNOLA Arts Collective knew Yusa’s trajectory, and when they heard she was in Miami, they invited her to perform with the Jazz and Heritage Foundation at Preservation Hall. Yusa enjoyed her brief visit to New Orleans.   

The pandemic forced Yusa to find new horizons. She accepted help from a good friend in New Orleans and decided to settle in the city of jazz. It did not take long for Yusa to find a new sense of belonging, a rich musical community, and make new friends. Music became her primary focus again, and she has been busy performing at various festivals, venues, and events. 

Yusa’s performances are designed not to be heard but to be felt. She takes the audience on her musical journey and shows her jazzy spirit. She feeds from the energy of her audience and gives them an unforgettable time while celebrating together “ the luck of being alive.”

Yusa will perform at French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest. Follow her on social media as Yusa Music to learn about her show details.

Our music section "Notas y Colores" is made possible thanks to the support of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation