Olvido

The recording artist Olvido Ruiz Castellanos from Havana- Cuba can already look back on an eventful musical career.??Her debut on Cuban television at the tender age of 5 was accompanied by her mother, the famous Cuban diva Jaqueline Castellanos, "La Dama del son".??At the Paulita Conception National Academy of Arts and Music her structured musical training began when at the age of 8.  Focus was given to voice, violin, piano, and choir direction. Afterwards, she continued at Amadeo Roldan Conservatory in Havana.??Olvido began her career as a lead singer at the age of16, as the youngest member of the world famous female band AZUCAR. The group performed at Cuban national and international Salsa festivals, touring through Brazil, Mexico, The Bahamas, and Martinique.  Their successes grew and culminated in winning the "Cuba's Most Beloved Band" prize on Cuban national television.??After Azucar, Olvido recorded various albums under the direction of Maestro Joaquin Betacourt, Jaqueline Castellanos and others in the studios of the Cuban record company, EGREM, together with the band OPUS 13.??Her musical career continued after moving to Barcelona. Together with her mother, she founded the traditional Cuban music project, DJ LATINO. With this ensemble came numerous concerts and festivals throughout Europe.  During this time period, Olvido had the opportunity to perform with the legendary Celina Cruz and the Afro Cuban All Stars as well as in the Tempo Latino International Music Festival. ??Collaboration with JAM PRODUCTIONS brought her to Germany and their work with the Latin Hip-Hop project DE LA LUZ recording "CHAN CHAN", originally by Buena Vista Social Club with which they acquired a record deal with Sony Music.  Performing as a soloist with well known Cuban bands such as CHARANGA , HABANERA, ORQUESTA REVÉ and AZUCAR NEGRA added more than another 180 performances throughout Europe to her résumé.??Because of her vocal versatility, Olvido Ruiz accumulated countless experiences in other genres of music as distinct as Pop, Soul, funk, and Hip Hop performing with bands such as THE WEATHER GIRLS, Sydney Youngblood, etc. This led to a successful entrance in the Latin Jazz scene working together with the likes of Lukmil Perez (Havanna Ensemble, El Indio Irakere), Felipe Cabrera (Gonzalo Rubalcaba) ?

In 2007 she demonstrated her musical leadership! Founding her own Cuban traditional music project "Sublime Havana" the band came to represent musically the prestigious Villiger Söhne Tobacco Company and they also got invited by the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra to participate in a musical exchange.



She then went on to record her first solo album "Pura Vida" together with the German pianist Sebastian Schunke. The presentation of this album was performed at the festival Ajazzgo in the City of Cali, Colombia.



At the prestigious theater “Los Cristales” which offers a Masterclass at the school of Art and Music of Cartagena she performed with such singers as Richard Bona.



That year the Colombian press named her “The New Cuban Diva”.

?After that Olvido embarked on a tour of China with Sebastian Schunke entitled "SEBASTIAN SCHUNKE MEETS OLVIDO " sponsored by the Consulate General of Hong Kong and Lufthansa. The tour began at Guangzhou's Xinghai Concert Hall and Blue Note Jazz Bar continuing to the True Colors Jazz Bar of Shenzhen, the Foreign Correspondence Club in Hong Kong as well as the Five in the Bund Jazz Club and JZ Jazz Club in Shanghai.



In 2007 she founded Nova Cuba in company with the drummer Tim Hann, the successful percussionist Alexis Herrera and Elio Rodriguez who had been nominated with Klazz Brothers and Cuban Percussions for Grammy Award and had been winners of Jazz and Echo Awards. ?

A new project under the record label Sony BMG had been implemented and  "Agua" is the title of Nova Cubas second album. Here Olvido stands as a composer and continues to work with several producers, including Meeco, Album "Amargo Mell" feat Ron Carter, Henderson Eddy and David Freeman.

She continued her performances in prestigious theaters and clubs like Quasimodo and A trane(Berlin) as well as Jazz Club Frankurt and National festivals including Jazz Open, Africa Festival and Jazztage Dresden, Nurnberg music, etc. and at International Festivals like Rigasritmi 2010.



She had given a Masterclass performance at recording studios o Latvian radio alternating with personalities like Gerald Clyton and had the pleasure to perform as an opening act for Bill Evans and Robben Fordcon.



Mesmerizing countless audiences with her unique stage presence and charisma, Olvido is not only a passionate singer with a superior voice, but a complete and versatile musician. Her intuition for the most distinct of musical styles makes it possible for her to participate in various projects, whether classic salsa, jazz, pop, rock, Funk, dance or Latin jazz. Olvido Ruiz has no prejudices and is open to any musical experiment.