Aymée Nuviola

Aymée Nuviola stands out as a Grammy- and Latin Grammy-winning vocalist, pianist, composer, and performer. Though recognized as a leading timba specialist—an intense style of Afro-Cuban dance music—she earns worldwide acclaim for her genre-spanning range and commanding vocal delivery. Her material draws from Latin jazz, timba, son, guaguancó, guaracha, and charanga, all infused with urban electronic textures, yet she presents them through distinctive combinations that include steamy boleros, tangos, rhumbas, bossa nova, and at times rock or classical music. Critics have drawn favorable parallels to Celia Cruz—whom she portrayed in a Colombian telenovela centered on the legendary singer—alongside Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn. Beyond her solo catalog, Nuviola has earned recognition for her collaborative work, appearing alongside artists such as Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Negroni's Trio, Rey Ruiz, Kat Dahlia, and Charlie Aponte. Beginning with the 2008 single “Salsa con Timba,” a high-energy dance track, and continuing through the 2013 son “Fiesta” and her second album En La Intimidad, her resonant tone, signature phrasing, and deep-rooted traditional sensibility appear alongside inventive experimentation in arrangements, lyrics, polyrhythms, and harmonies. This outlook quickly yielded results: First Class to Havana captured the Latin Grammy for Best Salsa Album in 2014 and the Grammy for Best Tropical Album the next year. In 2016 she joined Septeto Santiaguero on the Grammy-winning No Quiero Llanto: Tributo a los Compadres. She and Kat Dahlia collaborated on the funky Cuban hit “La Negra Tiene Tumbao,” featured on her successful album Regreso a la Habana.

Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1973, Nuviola grew up with a mother who worked as an educator and piano instructor and a father who, though employed as an electrical engineer, sang as an amateur. She started piano lessons at three, composing and performing her own songs from an early age while drawing inspiration from Benny Moré, Elena Burke, Omara Portuondo, Orquestra Reve, and José Antonio Méndez. At nine she and her sister Lourdes formed the duo Las Hermanas Nuviola. After graduating from Havana’s Manuel Saumell Conservatory she began securing session engagements, contributing vocals to recordings by Irakere, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Pachito Alonso, and NG La Banda. Her debut charting single, “Salsa con Timba,” preceded the 2009 release of Corazon Sonero on Reyes Records. Although no further tracks charted, Cuban reviewers praised the album’s fresh modern production within traditional frameworks, and it soon reached tropical radio outlets throughout the Caribbean. She performed across Cuba and at jazz festivals, building a national reputation as a dynamic and forceful singer. In 2010 she met producer and director Paulo Simeón; they married the following year, after which he took on management duties.

Nuviola waited until 2013 to issue her next recording, En La Intimidad, which showcased her vocal strength through original boleros and jazz and pop ballads. Marc Anthony and Oscar De Leon publicly lauded her, bestowing the title “Sonera del Mundo.” The project earned Cubadisco nominations for Singer/Songwriter of the Year and Best Popular Music Album. Capitalizing on the momentum, Reyes Records reissued Corazon Sonero several months later. She toured the Caribbean and portions of Latin America, then followed with the 2014 album First Class to Havana, a collection of layered, breezy salsa and jazzy guaguancó. Rubalcaba guested on the resonant ballad “De la Habana Hasta Aqui,” while tracks such as the opener “Paco” blended traditional and pop elements, becoming dance-club favorites across the Caribbean and Europe. Additional contributors included Pedrito Martinez, El Mola, and Alexis Valdez. The set also received Cubadisco and Grammy nominations. That year she performed on the Salsa Giants World Tour, appearing throughout Mexico and Latin America.

By 2015 Nuviola had become a familiar figure in the Caribbean. She portrayed Celia Cruz in the Telemundo series Celia, broadcast in 45 countries including the United States, and she headlined the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles for the inaugural Latin American Music Awards, closing with a tribute to Cruz. Regreso a la Habana, produced by her longtime mentor Sergio George, earned another Cubadisco nomination in 2016 and yielded the hit single “La Negra Tiene Tumbao” featuring Kat Dahlia. The track preceded her debut at the North Sea Jazz Festival the next year and reached number eight on the U.S. Tropical Albums chart. She next enlisted Baby Rasta y Gringo for “Bailando Todo Se Olvida,” an intense fusion of salsa, son, Latin funk, and soul. The charting single propelled Como Anillo al Dado up the Cuban charts and secured her first Latin Grammy for Best Tropical Fusion Album. Later that year she appeared as both actress and singer in Ernest Dickerson’s film Double Play.

Over the following two years Nuviola toured extensively and collaborated with fellow artists, returning to the North Sea Jazz Festival where she received an audience-favorite award and performing at Madison Square Garden in 2018. In 2019 she released the thirteen-track A Journey Through Cuban Music, offering her interpretations of classic Afro-Cuban repertoire with guests that included Omara Portuondo, Rubalcaba, Chucho Valdez, Munequitos De Matanzas, Mayito Rivera, and Samuel Formell. The album charted globally on streaming platforms, while her concerts in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean sold out months ahead. At the 2020 Grammy Awards, A Journey Through Cuban Music shared the Best Tropical Album prize with Marc Anthony’s Opus.