LATIN MUSIC

Cuban diva Omara Portuondo hits the Grammys

Omara Portuondo could be any Cuban grandmother, if that grandmother were a world-famous singer with tales to tell (and keep) about 60 years of music and celebrity and separation. Sequestered in a downtown Miami hotel, this legend of Cuban music, elegant and consummately professional at 79, wears a spangled black headscarf for photographs on a rare day of interviews. Her feet, however, are nestled into white athletic socks and flat, cork-soled sandals. When she sings -- and she sings several times -- the room seems to vibrate with the emotion in her voice.

Brazilian diva Gal Costa makes rare visit to Miami

Of all the great female singers Brazil has produced, perhaps none is more beloved, or more identified with her homeland, than Gal Costa. Since she emerged in the late 1960s as the muse of tropicalismo used her unique, silvery voice and serene, joyous persona to embody a quintessentially Brazilian spirit and musicality that still enrapture audiences and critics.

MUSIC

Cuba concert turns spotlight on fiery singer

Olga Taņon's concert at Hard Rock Live won't begin for several hours, but the show starts as the singer's giant motor home pulls up to the hotel entrance at the Hollywood gambling and entertainment complex.

DANCE

Trimmed-down ballet set for a lean season

Like much of the rest of the world, Miami City Ballet has been on a financial and professional roller coaster in the past year, including some artistic and career highs.

TELEVISION

Documentary follows the evolution of Latin music

When the Fania All-Stars played a legendary concert at Yankee Stadium in 1973, the stands were filled with 63,000 people who were so crazy for the radical new music called salsa that they stormed the stage. It was a bigger audience than the 55,000 who turned out for the Beatles' famed show at Shea Stadium eight years before. And yet there was almost no mention of the event in mainstream media, as if, for most of the country, one of the biggest concert events to take place in America hadn't happened.

MUSIC

Thievery Corporation brings indie spirit and musical fusion to the Fillmore

Since getting together in 1995, Washington, D.C.-based duo Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, better known as Thievery Corporation, have found success with original music and resolute career independence. Their blend of electronica, dub, jazz, bossa nova and a host of other styles -- from cheesy film scores to Afrobeat -- has found a wide audience without mainstream radio airplay or major label promotion.

MUSIC

Rocker Travis McCoy raises voice for AIDS awareness

When Travis McCoy, lead singer of hip-hop/rock band Gym Class Heroes, lost someone he loved to AIDS more than 15 years ago, he wasn't only saddened by his loss -- he was afraid that he could have been infected, too. ``You think `Oh no, we've shared kitchen utensils,' '' says McCoy, who was 11 or 12 at the time. ``You think, `Will the kids at school know?' '' When he learned in a school health program that you don't get AIDS from sharing silverware or touching someone, ``I had this clarity and relief, but also enormous guilt.''

DANCE

No limitations for the disabled

Choreographer Karen Peterson has been making pieces for disabled dancers, people whose ability to move has been changed by muscular dystrophy or other ailments, for 20 years. But when she met visual and video artist Maria Lino, Peterson discovered a collaborator who brought a new vision into her dancemaking -- insight that stemmed from the many years Lino lived with her quadriplegic brother, who had cerebral palsy.

A day after Juanes show, emotions in Miami still mixed

When Fabio Diaz settled in with 15 members of his extended Cuban family to watch Colombian singer Juanes' historic concert in Havana on television Sunday, he -- and the rest of his clan -- had mixed feelings. Diaz, who is 35 and came to Miami at 19, thought the event should have been staged in an intermediary location between the island and Miami, as a bridge between the two sides. And he wanted Juanes to speak out directly about freedom in Cuba.

Nelly Furtado makes smart entry into Latin music market

Nelly Furtado's musical career has been filled with drastic changes. She started as a funky hip-hop / fusion phenomenon, soaring to success with her 2000 debut Whoa, Nelly and its Grammy-winning hit I am Like a Bird, then veered into a Brazilian-tinged world-beat detour. She returned to the mainstream in 2006 with the bestselling, sexy pop-hip-hop of Loose.

LATIN MUSIC

Big names booked for Latin, world music performances

South Florida's fabulous mosaic of cultures usually guarantees an exciting mix of Latin -- from cutting-edge alternative to the biggest pop stars -- and world music each season. Only a few concerts have been announced so far, but look for many more as the season progresses.

Songwriter Jacob Jeffries attracts South Florida's savviest musical tastemakers

Jacob Jeffries, a songwriting prodigy who's been composing since he was 7, has attracted the interest of some of South Florida's savviest musical tastemakers

CONCERT REVIEW | DEPECHE MODE

Review | Sights, powerful sounds steal show

The moment when Depeche Mode really took hold of the crowd came late in the show Saturday night, on unironically-titled Enjoy the Silence, as singer Dave Gahan went strutting and whirling bare-chested on a platform into the crowd, and some 16,000 people at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise waved and sang along in an ecstasy of romantic loneliness. ``All I ever wanted, all I ever needed, was here in my arms,'' they howled together, on the quintessential outsider's anthem.

POP MUSIC

Get back: It's Beatlemania all over again

As it turns out, all you need is love -- and genius -- to live forever, even in the evanescent world of pop music. For the Beatles, the time is not just When I'm 64 but any age at all. The renowned British quartet's career lasted from 1962 to 1969, but their music has spanned generations.

CUBAN EXILE COMMUNITY

Juanes: Cuba concert is not about politics

Colombian singer Juanes speaks out about his concert in Cuba -- and the controversy surrounding it.

CUBAN EXILE COMMUNITY

Pop singer Juanes sparks furor in Cuban exile community with plans for Havana concert

Colombian pop singer Juanes is sparking a controversy in the Cuban exile community with plans for a concert in Havana.

POP MUSIC

Dark period fuels Fonsi's new success

Singer Luis Fonsi's hair is so black it gleams. He has thick brown eyebrows, deep brown eyes, and his skin is tanned a rich caramel. But for all his dark features, his eyes shine so vibrantly that the impression he gives is one of brightness.

Classics rock on: Why golden-age oldies dominate concert scene

They say rock 'n' roll will never die. Neither, apparently, will the careers of many rockers, at least to judge by the concert scene.

Ricardo Arjona offers more than songs in his concert

The Guatemalan singer-songwriter Ricardo Arjona doesn't only make music in his concerts -- though only isn't a word you'd use for his songs -- but musical theater. His sold-out show at the AmericanAirlines Arena on Thursday night was a wonderful exercise in playful concept and passionate narrative. And richly captivating music as well.