Sound Bridges between Africa and Latin America: Uniting Continents through Music and Network Collaboration

The networks Cultural Connections Latin America (CCLA) and Arts Connect Africa (ACA) have opened a new bridge of dialogue between the two continents, giving rise to an unprecedented collaboration between Last Jerónimo (Mexico) and Divine Mahara (Zimbabwe–South Africa).

The encounter took place during the 2025 edition of WOMAD South Africa, held in Cape Town from September 25 to 29, where both musicians offered an artistic exchange that celebrated the musical and historical ties between Africa and Latin America, embodying the spirit of South–South cultural cooperation that both networks strive to promote.

Although CCLA and ACA are independent, non-profit organizations, the project received the support of Mexico’s Ministry of Culture, which covered the international travel costs of the Mexican artist, while WOMAD South Africa’s institutional partners provided logistical and local production support. This joint effort demonstrates how network-based collaboration can make international artistic exchanges more sustainable and inclusive.

During his stay in Cape Town, Last Jerónimo participated in a range of cultural activities, including a music workshop with teenagers at the Kronendal Music Academy, three concerts, a recording session, and several musical collaborations throughout the four-day festival.

Divine Mahara took part in rehearsals, recording sessions, and joint performances in which both artists fused the shared roots of their traditions—the Afro-Latin folk of Jerónimo and Mahara’s Afropop —creating a sound language that symbolizes the living connection between Africa and Latin America.

Through this project, CCLA and ACA reaffirm their belief that cultural networks are powerful tools for building sustainable, equitable, and diverse musical ecosystems. The Sound Bridges between Africa and Latin America initiative not only brings artists together but also strengthens cooperation across the Global South, celebrating the power of music as a common language and a vehicle for transformation.

This collaboration continues the shared mission of both networks to connect continents through horizontal dialogue and equitable exchange. It stands as a seed of collaboration, one that seeks to keep growing, nurturing future encounters and deepening the bonds between the artistic communities of Africa and Latin America.

First edition of the Mexican Jazz Encounter

On Friday, February 21, the first edition of the Mexican Jazz Encounter took place at the Parker & Lenox jazz club in Mexico City, an event co-produced by Conexiones Culturales de Latinoamérica and Not a Bot (Festival M Jazz, Parker & Lenox, and Jazz en las Rocas).

The meeting brought together 66 jazz professionals from Mexico City, 15 Mexican states and 7 international profiles. Among these, 14 concert halls, 12 festivals, 10 artists, 8 production companies, 6 press media, 2 educational institutions and 1 music conference were represented. A total of 14 representatives of public cultural institutions and 49 private initiatives were present.

During the event, 3 activities were carried out with the objective of making a first approach and putting on the table relevant topics for Mexican jazz. The first consisted of 8 rounds of 5-minute pitches where experiences in audience development were shared. In order to get to know different points of view from the productive chain, as well as from various generations, the voices of communicators, managers, agents, programmers, artists and digital creators were heard. The experience was moderated by Óscar Adad with the participation of Sara Valenzuela, Producer of Jalisco Radio and Director of the Konsulta Cultural Foundation; Ana Rodríguez, former manager of Troker and current Director of Fíjate qué Suave; Ilse Rodarte, Programmer of Zinco Jazz Club; Stephanie Villalobos, President of the Board of the Armando Núñez International

Jazz Festival (Chihuahua); Kunt Vargas, musician and PR of Los Pream (Oaxaca); Emi Hernández, digital creator (@emi_hdzz); Dru Lojero, co-founder of Jazz Is Dead; and Jordi Funtanet, CEO of Not a Bot.

This was followed by a round table moderated by Ariadna Reyes, programmer of the Lunario del Auditorio Nacional and Senior Project Manager of The MET Live in HD, with the theme “Circulation: Alliances and collaboration models”, where the speakers talked about the creation of circuits and their participation in collaborations at a national or international level as public or private organizations. The speakers were Alejandro Zúñiga, Director of the Institute of Culture of Aguascalientes; Daniel Espinosa, Deputy Director of Circuits of the Cervantino International Festival; Gerry Rosado, Music Producer and Content Director of the Intolerancia label and co-founder of Relatable; and Pablo Solís, Director of the Cultural Connections Latin America network.

At the end of the two activities, there was time for discussion and networking, a space that was extended during Saturday at the M Jazz festival, to which professionals were also invited, to meet the scheduled artists, continue networking and enjoy the festival.

From CCLA, we thank all the participants for their confidence in participating in this type of event, and their commitment to continue strengthening jazz and music in Mexico.

Consult the event’s memoir here.

Members of the CCLA network participated in the panel “Jazz in Latin America: Expanding the Conversation on International Touring” at the Jazz Congress

On Wednesday, January 8, members of the CCLA network participated in the panel “Jazz in Latin America: Expanding the Conversation on International Touring” at the Jazz Congress, hosted by the prestigious organization Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City—an event that brings together the jazz industry from across the United States.

The panel was proposed, coordinated, and moderated by Matt De León, booking agent for Latin America and Education Manager at Music Works International. It explored the jazz ecosystem and the opportunities for touring throughout Latin America, with a focus on the unique dynamics of the region.

Key players in the Latin American jazz scene took part in the conversation, including Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana; Natacha Cruz, Director and Founder of the Argentine Jazz Circuit; Jordi Funtanet, Director of M Jazz Festival and the bar/venue Parker & Lenox in Mexico City; Alejandro Orellana, Senior Programming Advisor for M Jazz Chile and Programming Director of WOMAD Chile; María Claudia Parias, General Director of the District Institute of the Arts; and Heloisa Pisani, Director of International Affairs at SESC São Paulo.

In a packed room, the discussion addressed the current state of the jazz ecosystem in Latin America, highlighted some of the territory’s unique characteristics and market challenges, and shared experiences for designing effective tours. In particular, the importance of working in reciprocity and building horizontal partnerships was emphasized.


The conversation helped position the Latin American region within one of the most important international jazz congresses in the world. The panel was broadcast live on Instagram and can be replayed [here].

First tour in Mexico of Brazilian singer-songwriter, Aiace.

Cultural Connections Latin America (CCLA) is pleased to announce the tour in Mexico of Aiace, a Brazilian singer-songwriter whose music blends Afro-Bahian culture with pop, jazz, and electronic elements. From Salvador, Bahia, Aiace and her quartet will share the joy of their music in Aguascalientes, Mexico City, Xalapa, and Zacatecas.

This tour has been made possible thanks to the collaborative work promoted by the CCLA network, an initiative that creates room for dialogue to strengthen professional ties, showcase contemporary Latin American music creation, and promote artistic mobility in the region. Its aim is to multiply business opportunities and support the professional development of the sector through the exchange of best practices and the creation of specific collaborative projects.

Aiace is a success story of the network, since partner proposed her for Conexión Sónica, a virtual festival promoted by the network during the pandemic to generate audiovisual content to disseminate Latin American music. This led to Aiace winning virtual support from Ibermúsicas to produce a docu-concert, a live session that combines an interview where she explains the origins of her music and the cultures in which it developed. The following year, the network helped obtain invitation letters, enabling her to apply for and secure international mobility support from the Ibermúsicas program, covering her airfare. These same alliances allowed for scheduling and producing Aiace’s first tour in Mexico.

From CCLA, we want to thank everyone who has joined this initiative and now all of you who help amplify her music and concerts. 

  • Here is Aiace’s docu-concert (available on YouTube)
  • Here are the details of her dates in Mexico:
    • Nov 7: Sótano Stallworth (Aguascalientes, Instituto de Cultura de Aguascalientes).
    • Nov 9: Zinco Jazz Club (Mexico City, Rodarte Management)
    • Nov 14: Festival Internacional de Jazz y Blues de Zacatecas (Zacatecas, Instituto Zacatecano de Cultura)
    • Nov 16: Cervecería La Brújula (Xalapa, Veracruz).

Participation in the International Seminar “Music and Business in Latin America”.

This Tuesday, November 5 will be the pre-launch of the Music and Business program, which will take place in the first quarter of 2025. For the event, a seminar will be organized in which Pablo Solís will participate, along with María Isabel de los Ríos and Eulícia Esteves in an international panel of experts in the Music Industry, Culture and Public Policies in Latin America.

Escola Música & Negócios is in charge of launching the Certification in Music Business, in Spanish, for all of Latin America, with the experience of certifying 5 thousand students in Brazil, together with the Genesis Institute PUC-Rio, of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro.

The music industry in Latin America has experienced remarkable growth in terms of its revenues and the international recognition of its artists. According to the IFPI Global Music Report, recorded music revenues in Latin America will grow by 19.4% in 2023, a figure higher than the global growth rate.

This is the tenth consecutive year of revenue growth in the region. Much of this is due to the urban genre, which has established itself as the most representative genre in the region.

The International Music and Business seminar will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024 at the following time:

  • 5pm (Mexico)
  • 7pm (Colombia)
  • 8pm (Brazil)
+ Info / Register

Members of CCLA Achieve South American Tour for Miguel Zenón

Miguel Zenón, the acclaimed Puerto Rican saxophonist and winner of the 2024 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album, will share his music in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile thanks to the collaborative work between members of the Cultural Connections Latin America (CCLA).

This tour has been made possible through the networking efforts of Luis Ponte (AR), Luis Daniel Iturralde (BO), and Felipe Greene (CL), who collaborated to host Zenón Quartet  with Miguel on saxophone, Matt Penman on double bass, Luis Perdomo on piano, and Henry Cole on drums.

The band will arrive “where the land ends,” Chile, to headline the Chile Jazz Festival on October 17, 18, and 19 in the cities of Santiago, Viña del Mar, and Ovalle, respectively. They will then continue their tour to the “country of silver,” Argentina, where Zenón will give a masterclass on the 21st and perform two concerts at Café Berlín on October 22 and 23 in Buenos Aires. Finally, they will land in the “heart of the Altiplano,” Bolivia, offering a masterclass and a concert on October 25 as the closing event of NunaFest, the festival of Nuna Theater in La Paz.

Zenón received the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album of 2024 for “El Arte del Bolero II,” a work where he shares credits with Luis Perdomo on piano. This is his first award from this academy, after several nominations, undoubtedly a well-deserved recognition of the legacy and career of one of the most relevant jazz musicians today.

Daniel, Felipe, and Luis are founding partners of the CCLA network and have been great allies since its inception. From the coordination of CCLA we want to congratulate them on the achievement that this tour represents.

Successful Completion of “Connections Without Borders”

On Sunday, August 25, 2024, Conexiones Culturales de Latinoamérica, in collaboration with Western Arts Alliance and Noroeste Movimiento, hosted a binational performing arts gathering that brought together professionals from Mexico and the United States. The event took place at the Tijuana State Center for the Arts, where 100 professionals from both sides of the border gathered to exchange ideas, share projects, and explore collaboration opportunities in a region divided by a border wall.

The gathering brought together a diverse group of participants, including artists, academics, presenters, and representatives from festivals and cultural venues. Mexican organizations in attendance included Fundación Ópera Tijuana A.C., Incendio Producciones, Tijuana Hace Teatro, Ramona, Lux Boreal, Conjunto Santander de Artes Escénicas, and Bloodlust Wine Bar. From the American side, there were representatives from Live Nation, Grand Performances, LA Phil, Yerba Buena Gardens Festivals, San Diego State University, Stanford Live, Western States Arts Federation, among others.

This event was held as a pre-conference activity for the annual Western Arts Alliance conference, a member-driven organization that brings together performing arts professionals from across the western United States. The conference took place in San Diego, California, from August 26 to 29.

The binational gathering in Tijuana laid the groundwork for future collaborations and provided a platform for exchanging information that enhanced mutual understanding between the cultural ecosystems of both countries. At the close of the event, commitments were made to maintain ongoing communication, fostering the development of future collaborative projects.

Conexiones Culturales de Latinoamérica is thrilled with the success of this gathering and will continue working towards the continuity and growth of alliances and collaborative projects between Mexico, Latin America, the United States, and Canada.

Check out the full event agenda here.

Lanzamiento del Festival Conexión Sónica

La red Conexiones Cultural de Latinoamérica presenta del 20 al 26 de septiembre de 2021 su primer proyecto colaborativo: Conexión Sónica. Este festival virtual mostrará 7 propuestas musicales de América Latina que fusionan la herencia cultural ancestral de la región con expresiones contemporáneas. 

Para esta primera edición, se mostrarán proyectos contemporáneos de Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panamá y Paraguay. Se presentarán videos inéditos en formato de docu-conciertos, donde además de la música, los intérpretes hablarán sobre los orígenes de los instrumentos y los contextos sociales donde se desarrollan estas músicas. La transmisión será gratuita y se difundirá simultáneamente por los canales de comunicación de los socios de la red Conexiones Culturales de Latinoamérica (CCLA). 

Conexión Sónica hace un viaje que conecta la tradición musical de diferentes pueblos de América Latina con las expresiones musicales contemporáneas. El proyecto se alimenta de la riqueza y vigencia de los instrumentos tradicionales que en nuestra región han sido utilizados en la historia musical por pueblos indígenas antes de la era colonial y por las comunidades africanas que por la fuerza llegaron a nuestras costas. Más allá de la fusión de géneros musicales, Conexión Sónica apunta a la fusión de temporalidades, de periodos históricos, de diálogos culturales intergeneracionales.

En los conciertos de Conexión Sónica vemos a las guitarras eléctricas, los beats electrónicos y los bajos profundos, encontrarse con la tambora, las zampoñas y el charango. En las entrevistas de la serie, son los propios músicos quienes nos indican la naturaleza de esos vínculos. Esos que llamamos instrumentos tradicionales son recipientes de un legado histórico que se actualiza y se transforma, son elementos que queremos destacar como parte de la construcción de las identidades nacionales y de la enorme diversidad de las comunidades en América Latina. Son el vehículo que nos lleva a viajar a las raíces culturales pero también a las salas de conciertos y las pistas de baile.

Este proyecto es resultado del diálogo y trabajo colectivo, construido a partir de la red CCLA, y cuenta con el apoyo del programa Ibermúsicas.