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MUSIC SIN FRONTERAS

Gaby Moreno: A distinct voice bridging continents and cultures

Back in February (seems like a lifetime ago) I reviewed Gaby Moreno’s 2024 album Dusk. In April’s Hot Half Dozen, I recommended the music video for her single “Lamento”, that tells the heartbreaking story of the rising sea that washed away her childhood home in Guatemala. 

I revisited those stories this weekend as I listened to the 15 songs on the Dusk Album and rewatched the video, and I realized that I had never really properly  introduced Moreno to you all beyond a paragraph on her appearances with artists like Bono, the Buena Vista Social Club, Tracy Chapman, and many more, showing her incredible range and adaptability.  

I have met and interviewed Moreno several times, and chatted with her and her agent, Gill Gastelum of Cosmica Artists after a concert. The major takeaway from each of those encounters was that Moreno is too talented to stay in one genre, and is a really nice person.  Her story is inspiring.

Born Maria Gabriela Moreno Bonilla in Guatemala City, Gaby’s talent surfaced early: by age 10, she was already performing as an opening act for Ricky Martin and singing at community events throughout her homeland. That early exposure sharpened her vision, leading her to Los Angeles as a young adult to pursue more expansive opportunities.

Moreno’s emergence as a top-level musician is characterized by both range and resolve. She masterfully blends blues, soul, jazz, and the folk music of Latin America, singing in both English and Spanish and collaborating with artists across genres. By her twenties, Moreno was recording with major labels and winning acclaim. Her song “Escondidos” won the Grand Prize at the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2006. Her 2019 album Spangled is a brilliant collaboration with Van Dyke Parkes that traces Latin music’s 100-year migration across North America. 

Moreno is a GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY winner, recognized in 2024 for Best Latin Pop Album (X Mí (Vol. 1)) and as Best New Artist (2013), among other nominations. She’s been honored by the BBC’s 100 Women and has performed on iconic stages from Lincoln Center to the Kennedy Center.  

But despite the awards and the tours and concerts, at times her life transcends her music. As UNICEF’s first Guatemala ambassador, she has advanced children’s rights and distributed music-education albums in rural regions. She partners with nonprofits like Cooperative for Education, raising funds for scholarships and urgently needed infrastructure in Guatemalan communities. Her single “The Immigrants” channels proceeds toward supporting migrants and spotlights the struggles of the displaced.

Having followed her career for over 10 years, interviewing her and attending her concerts, I think what makes Gaby Moreno unique – and the reason I am profiling her here –  is her ability to connect worlds – her music sin fronteras quality, if you will. She bridges cultures with her bilingual music, she bridges genres from folk to rock to blues, she  honors her roots while forging a modern artistic path, and she weaves activism into her career. Whether lending her voice to musical collaborations or humanitarian causes, Moreno is a rare figure whose impact resonates far beyond the stage.

Stream  Dusk and her other albums on major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon Music, YouTube, Deezer, and Shazam.  

Patrick O’Heffernan, PhD., is a music journalist and radio broadcaster based in Los Angeles, California, with a global following. His two weekly radio programs, MusicFridayLive! and MusicaFusionLA are heard nationwide and in the UK. He focuses on two music specialties: emerging bands in all genres, and the growing LA-based ALM genre (American Latino Music) that combines rock and rap, blues and jazz and pop with music from Latin America like cumbia, banda, jarocho and mariachi. He also likes to watch his friend drag race.

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