Mili Bermejo

Deftly fusing her Latin heritage — her father was a Mexican composer and her mother an Argentinean singer and tango dancer — with a love and in-depth knowledge of jazz, Mili Bermejo had been performing for some time before her first release, 1992's Ay Amor! Born in Buenos Aires and raised in Mexico City, Bermejo first studied composition at Mexico's National School of Music and with noted Latin composer Julio Ernesto Estrada. Her time in college also brought her in touch with jazz, and she eventually relocated to Boston, MA, to study at the Berklee School of Music, where she would continue as a professor after graduating in 1984. With bassist (and husband) Dan Greenspan, she recorded Ay Amor! and the 1998 release Duo. Her Mili Bermejo Quartet released Casa Corazon in 1994 with contributions from Boston's modern creative jazz ensemble Orange Then Blue. The following year's release, Identidad, spanned the whole of Latin music in its arc of influences. In 2000, the Mili Bermejo Sexteto, featuring guitarist Claudio Ragazzi, brought the singer's journey full circle with the release of Pienso el Sur on the Mexican Pentagrama record label.