Yilian Cañizares and the African Ancestry of Jazz
Jazz is an art form built on tradition, molded by the transatlantic currents of rhythm and resistance. Beneath its heady harmonies and soaring solos lies a history of migration, resilience, and cultural collaboration. Through the violin and voice of Yilian Cañizares, this heritage becomes audible: a synthesis of Afro-Cuban rhythms, world-class violin technique, and jazz-latin fusion.
The African ancestry of jazz lies at the core of its rhythmic language, expressive phrasing, and communal spirit. Long before the genre took shape in New Orleans, African musical concepts like polyrhythms, call and response, and the use of music as participatory ritual had already crossed the Atlantic through the forced migrations of the slave trade. These traditions, preserved and transformed in places like Havana and New Orleans, became the foundation of blues, spirituals, and ultimately jazz itself.
Hailing from Havana, Cuba, Cañizares’ musical milieu is steeped in diverse cultural influences. As a young violinist, she was trained in the rigorous traditions of the Russian school and eventually went on to win the Cuban National Violin Contest four times. She performs in Spanish, French, and Yoruba—the latter adopted through her engagement with Afrocentric spiritual traditions. In 1997, she began studies at the Academia Latinoamericana de Violín in Venezuela and, in 2000, completed her formal training at the Fribourg Conservatory in Switzerland.
After settling in Switzerland, Cañizares established herself as both a performer and composer, collaborating with artists across genres, languages, and borders. Shortly after graduation, she founded her first jazz quartet, Ochumaré, named for the West African Yoruba deity symbolizing the rainbow and renewal. She used this as an opportunity to combine Yoruba melodies, Latin-jazz rhythms, and classical nuance; in 2008, the group went on to win the Montreux Jazz Festival Competition. Soon gaining international recognition, Le Nouvel Observateur named her a rising star in 2013, Les Inrockuptibles ranked her 2015 album Invocación among the top ten South American recordings of the year, and her 2019 release Erzulie was nominated for the Songlines Music Award for Best Album.
Rooted in both classical precision and Afro-Cuban spirituality, Cañizares’ style exemplifies the transatlantic dialogue that has always defined jazz. Her fusion of Western conservatory technique with African diasporic expression echoes the very formation of the genre itself—a marriage between discipline and freedom, past and present, Cuba and Africa. To listen to Cañizares is to hear the perseverance of African ancestry in contemporary jazz: a transcendent lineage carried through language, music, and tradition.
by Theo Bookey