Judy Cantor-Navas

I had the honor of writing the liner notes for salsa icon Hector Lavoe's classic album "Comedia" To multiple generations of fans, Lavoe would become the greatest salsa vocalist of all time, a barrio poet who spoke to the kids on the street while honoring a legacy of musical traditions. Posthumously, he’d be enshrined as a popular hero throughout Latin America.

For the percussionist and bandleader, the album’s title proved to be prophetic.

The setting of Noah Kahan's album "Stick Season" in Vermont, where I have family ties; his meaning-layered songs, and his advocacy for young people's mental health have all struck a chord with me. As the leafless trees, grayness and cold of Vermont's "season of the sticks" was approaching, I interviewed Noah for No Depression's winter 2023 issue.

There’s one word commonly associated with Camarón de la Isla’s voice: goosebumps. Others call it simply “the Camarón effect.” Young, old, gypsies, non-gypsies, and, at this point, several generations of Spanish and global fans regard Camarón as the greatest flamenco singer of all time. Here, I told Camarón's story through his timeless recordings for uDiscoverMusic.

This is my Substack: Cuban sounds and stories from the wide world of Latin music. Playlists, videos, interviews, and a serialized book about the pioneering Havana label Panart Records.
I hope you'll subscribe!

Matt Dillon on his documentary "El Gran Fellove" and his love for the music and musicians of Cuba.

I am the Story Producer and Lead Writer of Punk in Translation, an Audible Original Podcast, winner of two Signal Awards and two Latin Podcast Awards and winner of a prestigious Ondas Award in Spain. The eight-episode narrative non-fiction series explores the parallel evolution of Latino identity and punk music, from the secret Latino history of New York's CBGB to East LA's Chicano punk scene and the Cuban roots of cha-cha-cha to teenage rebellion in Tijuana, .

I talked to NPR's Rachel Martin for a look back at the Buena Vista Social Club music and phenomenon for Morning Edition.

I traveled to Mallorca to profile singer Júlia Colom for No Depression magazine and explore the forgotten history of the island's tradition of agricultural work songs, and the people who sang them.

I was nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award for my liner notes for The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions box set. I also co-produced this five-album reissue of legendary recordings made in the Panart studio in Havana, re-released on Craft Recordings. The pioneering Panart jam sessions, which were born as an all-night, rum-fueled party on a Havana night in 1956, marked a milestone for what would become known as Latin jazz.

In a low-lit, cave-like, whitewashed room two guitarists and two singers sit on high-backed cane chairs. Over the next hour, the quick-fire tapping of heels and handclaps contrast with the keen of a veteran singer’s voice that’s been marinated for a lifetime in the deep corners of the soul. It’s the sound of what’s often called the Spanish blues.
The flamenco tablao is a typical Spanish postcard scene. It's also the lifeblood of flamenco dancers and musicians, and since the pandemic began, shutting down live music clubs, a symbol of the artform's inherent resistance to a changing world.

How the famed song came to be recorded is a tale as long and winding as Mexico City’s subway system.

El legendario percusionista Cándido Camero cumple 98 años y está como un roble.

El nombre del grupo, The Mamboys, está escrito a mano con rotulador negro, y también los títulos de las canciones: La Toalla, versión Tito Rodríguez a un lado, y al otro Abaniquito, la canción de José Curbelo y Bobby Escoto famosa en las pistas de baile de Nueva York gracias a Tito Puente. Orlando Marín y Eddie Palmieri tenían 16, 15, y 14 años,

Spanish artists celebrate 20th anniversary of Spain's milestone album with a tribute to Enrique Morente and Leonard Cohen.