Camila Cortina & The Afro-cuban Connections Ensemble

About

Ancestrazz is a collection of compositions by Cuban-born pianist and composer Camila Cortina celebrating ancestral feminine power and the women of the African Diaspora who paved the way for generations of artists to follow. Developed with the support of Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works program, the project traces a musical and cultural lineage connecting Afro-Cuban traditions, jazz, and African American women’s poetry. Drawing inspiration from feminine spiritual figures of Afro-Cuban Yoruba traditions, icons of Cuban popular music such as Celia Cruz and Isolina Carrillo, African American poets such as Lucille Clifton, and pioneering jazz artists including Mary Lou Williams, Alice Coltrane, and Geri Allen, Ancestrazz explores cultural memory and the knowledge we inherit from the women who came before us. Through these interconnected histories, the project imagines a sense of Pan-African identity that reaches beyond geographic borders, artistic languages, and spiritual traditions.