Season 3 Episode 20 Claudia Acuna

Born in Santiago, Chile and raised in Concepcion, singer, composer and bandleader, Claudia Acuña, established herself on the Chilean jazz scene in her 20s. When she arrived in New York City in 1995, Claudia quickly gained recognition as a leading voice in a scene that was rapidly being transformed by brilliant Latin American jazz, plunging into collaborations with masters such as Jason Lindner, Harry Whitaker, Arturo O’Farrill, Guillermo Klein, Avishai Cohen, Branford Marsalis, George Benson, Louie Vega, Danilo Perez, and Tom Harrell. 

Claudia released five albums as a leader before slowing down to adjust to motherhood and restore her power. Returning after a decade-long hiatus in 2019, Claudia returned with her sixth album, the highly praised Latin Grammy nominated album Turning Pages.

Then 2020 rocked the world. As the life slowed to a crawl, Claudia took time to reflect on the past and to find the core of her dedication in the power of music. She returned to fulfilling a long time desire to record an album with songs from her homeland. Titled DUO, the release features nine songs recorded as intimate duets with some of the finest musicians in the world - Fred Hersch, Christian Mcbride, Regina Carter, Russell Malone, Carolina Calvache, Arturo O’Farrell, and Kenny Barron. Claudia says that the simplicity of just two artists feeling the music and letting it flow through them, brought her to a new place as a singer. She told us, “I think all my albums are dreams and this was really one I didn’t know I was ever going to do…It was the perfect time…to give me the honor not only to do this duet, but allow me…to take them [her friends and musical collaborators] with me to, what I call humbly and respectfully, the Latin American standards.”