Projects

THE ANGEL FALLS ORCHESTRA

Seré Libre, the new album from acclaimed Venezuelan-Canadian artist Eliana Cuevas (set for release on ALMA Records on May 12, 2023) is a stunning production with the Angel Falls Orchestra, named after the world’s tallest waterfall, located in Auyán-tepui, Canaima National Park, Venezuela. “I created this 27-piece orchestra, as it was the one missing piece to realize my dream of fusing the incredibly rich traditions of Venezuelan folk rhythms and classical music.”

The album explores loss, the deaths of Cuevas’ father and grandfather, her mission to continue the centuries old folk music traditions they taught her, and dreams for a better future in Venezuela. Cuevas’ homeland is a nation that is home to some of the richest folk music in the Americas, but has tragically also seen devastating poverty, hunger and political crises in recent decades.

The cornerstone song of Seré Libre is the title track. Translated as “I shall be free,” it is a nine-minute epic journey that showcases the musical reach of the orchestra and Eliana’s passionate performance. “That is a song I always dedicate to Venezuela,” says Cuevas, alluding to the troubled state of her homeland, “but it can be interpreted as being about finding freedom from whatever is holding you back.”

The first single from Seré Libre is “Como Llora Una Estrella,” a much-loved traditional Venezuelan number that a young Eliana used to play with her grandfather. “Although my grandfather passed away, when I am performing this song, it has a way of bringing him back to life, connecting me with his soul wherever he is”. Eliana recorded it with legendary Venezuelan guitarist Aquiles Báez on their 2020 release El Curruchá, and it is now given vivid new life by the Angel Falls Orchestra.

“We also wanted to make a point of choosing songs that accentuate Afro-Venezuelan rhythms,” explains award winning arranger, producer, conductor Jeremy Ledbetter, “To combine those with the European classical format has allowed Eliana to share with the world the cultural richness of her country.”

The audio recording took place seamlessly at The Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts. The recording was captured on film by noted director/cinematographer Thom Varey. The album launch of Seré Libre will feature the worldwide premiere of this film at the Yorkdale Cineplex UltraAVX theatre in Toronto on May 11, and will also be live streamed. The album is being released on CD, LP, and all digital platforms, including Dolby Atmos/Immersive Audio, and the audio soundtrack on the film that will play in the theatre is also presented in Dolby Atmos for a truly theatrical experience.

Seré Libre is the seventh entry in Eliana Cuevas’s eclectic discography, one that has brought her wins at the National Jazz Awards, the Toronto Independent Music Awards, and the Independent Music Awards in the US. Her boldest artistic statement to date, it will reward your close attention.

THE ANGEL FALLS STRING QUARTET

Eliana Cuevas embodies the spirit of music as a bridge between cultures, blending the rich traditions of her Venezuelan heritage with the innovative artistry of jazz and global influences. Her voice is a revelation—pure, expressive, and capable of conveying profound emotion in every note. With her, music transcends language, connecting audiences through the universal themes of love, resilience, and beauty.

The collaboration between Eliana and the Angel Falls String Quartet is nothing short of magical. Eliana’s original songs, arranged for string quartet by the acclaimed JUNO Award-winning pianist Jeremy Ledbetter, highlight Eliana's roots, merging Venezuelan tradition with contemporary flair. The quartet’s lush, intricate arrangements complement Eliana’s dynamic vocal range, creating a soundscape that feels timeless and groundbreaking.

Some of Toronto's most talented and versatile classical and jazz musicians, including Jessica Deutsch (violin), Praise Lam (violin), Clara NguyenTran (viola) and Lydia Munchinsky (cello), form the Angel Falls String Quartet. This ensemble showcases their masterful musicianship, offering a passionate and heartfelt celebration of Eliana's cultural heritage.

Eliana Cuevas and the Angel Falls String Quartet take you on a journey through the rich sounds of Venezuelan tradition, reimagined through the lens of string arrangements and modern jazz influences. Their music is a tribute to the beauty of cultural fusion and the enduring power of music.

ELIANA CUEVAS ENSEMBLE

Through years of touring around the world, across Canada, and collaborating with Juno and Grammy Award-winning performers, Eliana Cuevas has grown into an accomplished singer-songwriter and bandleader with unlimited colours in her compositional and lyrical palette.

ELIANA CUEVAS & JEREMY LEDBETTER

Eliana Cuevas and Jeremy Ledbetter are well known in the Canadian musical landscape for the outstanding quality of their work, composing and performing as bandleaders of their own Latin Jazz projects and also as side musicians for some of the best musical acts in Canada. In 2025 Jeremy Ledbetter won the Juno Award for best Jazz group with his trio for their album GRAVITY, and Eliana Cuevas was named one of the Top10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians at the 17th Annual TLN Hispanic Canadian Awards. No strangers to performing with each other, Eliana and Jeremy have been performing together in various configurations for over 15 years, including Eliana’s last three albums which earned them two US Independent Music Awards for Best World Music Album and Best World Music Producer in New York, and a Canadian Folk Music Award for Best World Music Album.

Now they have created a duo project that unveils their musical chemistry in a more intimate way. They feature a unique and very soulful take on Latin American music with a focus on Venezuelan folkloric repertoire. Their music is Jazz-infused, acoustic, and showcases original compositions and some of the most beloved Venezuelan traditional songs. They have already captivated audiences in Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Winnipeg, Medicine Hat, Canmore and more. Their performances are playful, adventurous, spontaneous and very moving at times, allowing their audiences to experience a wide range of emotions.

Eliana's extraordinary vocal prowess is on full display in this duo setting, showcasing the vocal chops that have been captivating audiences around the world for years. At the hands of Jeremy Ledbetter, the piano roars, whispers, cries, and is transformed into a Venezuelan cuatro, or an “arpa llanera”, in a mesmerizing display of versatility. On stage, Eliana and Jeremy open a window into their lives, creating a display of their experiences together through music, taking advantage of their personal connection to bring their songs and stories to life.

ELIANA CUEVAS & AQUILES BÁEZ

On her new album, El Curruchá, featuring Aquiles Báez, renowned Venezuelan-Canadian singer/songwriter Eliana Cuevas returns to her roots, offering up a nostalgic homage to the music she grew up listening to in her homeland of Venezuela. The result is a beautifully intimate performance, by turns playful and deeply emotional, featuring virtuosic guitar and vocal work.

The passion and soul at the heart of Venezuelan music is brought to vivid life here. These melody-rich songs will, at various turns, make you want to laugh, cry, dance and sing along, as they explore a full gamut of emotion in intoxicating fashion.

El Curruchá (set for a February 12, worldwide release on ALMA Records), is a generous 13-song collection featuring imaginative new versions of classic Venezuelan songs of the last 30-50 years. Eliana stresses that “the focus of this album is to showcase traditional compositions from Venezuela. Venezuelan music is a universe of sounds and rhythms as rich and broad as the music from Cuba and Brazil but not as widely known.”

Eliana’s collaborator on the album, Aquiles Báez, is more than an internationally renowned guitarist and composer who has worked with such artists as Paquito D’Rivera and Fareed Haque. He is also a household name and musical hero in Venezuela, one of the biggest proponents of contemporary Venezuelan music and a mentor and an inspiration to a whole generation of musicians there.

Eliana’s long-held dream to create such an album as El Curruchá owes a great deal to Báez, she explains. “Many years ago I listened to an album from a well-known Venezuelan singer, Ilan Chester. His 2001 recording, Corazón Navideño, much like El Curruchá, with just voice and guitar, which, as it happens, was played by Aquiles Báez, way before I met him. I loved and listened to this album many times, and from there came a dream that I’d love to do an album like this, with someone like Aquiles.”

Happily that opportunity came along later, as Cuevas recalls. “When I was recording my album Espejo, I e-mailed him from Canada, hoping that he would play cuatro on a song. He was very receptive to the idea, so we sent each other files, and he played on ‘El Tucusito’.”

“That was our first collaboration, without meeting in person. I then went to Venezuela where we met and collaborated further, and then he brought his trio to Toronto to play some shows with us at the Lulaworld festival. With Aquiles being here, I took the opportunity to record El Curruchá with him, and now the time is right to release it.”

The Toronto recording session, produced and engineered by Cuevas’ husband Jeremy Ledbetter, went very smoothly, as Báez was already very familiar with the material. “Aquiles’ playing is so beautiful, so musical and soulful,” praises Eliana. “Plus he is a lovely human being with a great sense of humour, and we have become good friends.”

The personal and musical empathy of the pair is audible in the warmth of the album. From mellow and soulful compositions to upbeat and witty numbers, Cuevas and Báez remain totally in sync. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than on the title track, one featuring fast and fluent guitar picking and almost impossibly speedy vocals from Eliana.

“El Curruchá” has a special personal significance to Eliana, she explains. “It was a song my father played all the time. Whenever there was a family gathering, he’d pull out the cuatro and play that song. He passed away when I was 11. He loved music and played and sang, and that song is a very important memory from my childhood. Plus it is so much fun!”

Báez contributed one original song, the rhythmic and upbeat “San Rafael”, while Cuevas’ “En Un Pedacito De Tu Corazon” is reprised here, in a stripped-down form.

“Caballo Viejo” “is a classic song that became known outside Venezuela, and it was used as the basis of the Gipsy Kings’ hit “Bamboléo”. Eliana notes that “it was written by Simón Díaz. If anybody knows about joropo, a very traditional Venezuelan rhythm, they know him.”

She describes “Maria Antonia” as “another quirky and funny song. It is about a woman who does eccentric things, like showering on the table and sleeping in a laundry tub. ‘Aquel Zuliano’ is built around a very percussive rhythm from Maracaibo called gaita, one usually played around Christmas time.” Another highlight on an album devoid of lowlights is “Flor De Mayo,” a quietly expressive tune showcasing Eliana’s subtle vocal skills.

El Curruchá is the sixth entry in Eliana Cuevas's impressive and eclectic discography. She has never been constrained by genre boxes in her songwriting, drawing freely from jazz, Latin, folk and world music elements.

This stylistic diversity is reflected in the fact she has won a National Jazz Award for Latin Jazz Artist of the Year, two Toronto Independent Music Awards for Best World Music Artist, an Independent Music Award for Best Latin Album in the US, and a Canadian Folk Music Award for World Solo Artist of the Year.

When our current troubled circumstances ease, Eliana is looking forward to touring with Aquiles Báez. In the meantime, this talented pair have brought us El Curruchá, for our great listening pleasure.

ELIANA CUEVAS & JORGE GLEM

Eliana Cuevas & Jorge Glem Release Mi Pequeña — An Intimate Homage to Venezuela’s Soul

Toronto, Canada — Multi–Latin Grammy winner Jorge Glem, widely regarded as the world’s greatest cuatro player, joins forces with CFMA- winning Venezuelan Canadian vocalist Eliana Cuevas, to release Mi Pequeña (Lulaworld Records) on November 7, an album of tender remembrance, virtuosity, and national pride.

This is not just another recording—it is a love letter to Venezuela, a cultural dispatch from memory and exile, and an homage to a fallen comrade, the late and luminous Aquiles Báez.

The title track, Mi Pequeña, was composed by Báez, inspired by his young daughter Andrea, and stands here as both an invocation and a benediction. Cuevas and Glem don’t just interpret the song—they lift it into eternity, naming the entire record after it as an act of reverence.

At its core, Mi Pequeña is an album of bare-bones honesty: voice and cuatro. Stripped of excess, what remains is the marrow of Venezuelan songcraft—the warm timbre of Cuevas’ voice intertwining with Glem’s mercurial cuatro. In this intimate format, every nuance counts; every breath and every pluck is a confession. “When there are only two of us,” Cuevas says, “there’s nowhere to hide. It is vulnerable, it is raw, and it is breathtaking.”

Glem, known internationally through his Grammy-winning work with C4 Trío, reminds us why the cuatro is Venezuela’s beating heart. His instrument doesn’t just accompany; it converses, cajoles, challenges, and consoles. Together, Cuevas and Glem resurrect the kitchen-table sessions of Venezuelan families, where song was as common as bread, and memory was carried on melody.

This is Cuevas’ second intimate duo project. Her 2021 collaboration with Aquiles Báez, El Curruchá, now glows as a bittersweet precursor to Mi Pequeña. With Báez’s untimely death in 2022, the new record became both a tribute and a torchbearer.

Cuevas’ daughters have become willing torchbearers too. “They support me,” she says with a smile. “They even like it!” But what they are really supporting is a cultural mission—to ensure the cuatro is heard, understood, and never mistaken for a ukulele again.

Mi Pequeña will be released worldwide on Lulaworld Records, marking another milestone in Cuevas’ acclaimed career as a bridge-builder between Latin American tradition and Canadian creativity.