And my career, the things that have happened have happened because of my music education background.
Having a college degree gave me the opportunity to be... well-rounded. Also, the people I met at the university, most of them are still my colleagues now. People I've known for years are all in the industry together.
I might be a Cuban American, but I'm also an Afro-Cuban American.
I'm a big believer in education, period.
Even before I became a recording artist, I did other things in music. I was a teacher, I did studio work, and I was an arranger and a producer.
I write in English first, and then I translate to Spanish. I've always felt more comfortable with the English side of things first.
So, when I got the contract for my album, even though it was an English record, my manager insisted on making sure we would record in Spanish as well, and it worked out really well for me.
This record has a lot of influences that I'd love to cover, like Marvin Gaye and Earth, Wind and Fire. Maybe I'll do some covers of my major influences during my live show.
I was a teacher for a long time. I taught at a community college: voice, theory, humanities. And nowadays, music education is a dying thing. Funding is being cut more and more and more.
If there was any other place I would live, other than Miami, it would be California. It's beautiful. The weather is just gorgeous, I love being here, too.
If you write songs and if you write music that's very sincere and very honest, it's pop music, but it is pop music with a lot of honesty and a lot of heart.
It happened in Miami, in Coral Gables, a great big ol' Cuban wedding. It was pretty intense.
I have a bachelor's and a master's in jazz.
I grew up speaking both languages, and for me that's really important.
For me, there's still a lot of room to grow; I'm just happy that I have so much more to give.
I just lived it and did my own thing without looking over my shoulder. I think I'm very lucky, considering when I started everything, and the fact that I have a masters in music, and I've always worked in music, and that's what I wanted to do.
I grew up in a community that was bilingual. I've done it for a while, singing in both languages.
A real active music set, based and really concentrated on what the music's all about. That's what I'm all about - singing and a really good strong music set.
