Three dynamic, powerful performers — singers, musicians, and songwriters Yusa, Inez Barlatier, and Keba— headline the concert Women of the Caribbean, a musical celebration staged outdoors, in the Koubek’s Gardens, marking the re-opening of the Koubek for limited-capacity audiences following COVID-19 guidelines.

Yusa is a Cuban a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, lyricist,  arranger, and composer powerhouse. Her work suggests a deep knowledge of Cuban musical traditions such as son and trova, but updated with elements of jazz, pop, and R&B. A classical guitarist by training, Yusa specialized early on in the tres, a small six-string guitar-like instrument that is the defining sound of Cuban son, and later incorporated in her music an electric bass, keyboards, and percussion instruments. She was a founding member of Interactivo — an adventurous collective that blended elements of hip-hop, rock, jazz, and blues with Cuban son, timba, rumba, and boleros — before embarking on a solo career that has included collaborations with Brazilian singer and songwriter Lenine, Omara Portuondo, Raly Barrionuevo, Veronica Condomí, Liliana Vitale, Nu Deco and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Miami’s own Inez Barlatier is a Haitian-American multi-disciplinary artist and educator. She learned to play guitar from her father, Jan Sebon, himself a multi-disciplinary artist and educator and a mainstay of the group Kazak International. Barlatier started performing at the age of 12 and, in time,  organized her own band, Kazoots. She has appeared as a solo performer, accompanying herself on guitar, her rich, expressive voice, storytelling lyrics, and on-stage presence evoking the work of folk music-based artists such as Tracy Chapman and Joan Armatrading.

The sound of Trinidad-born singer and songwriter Keba is an organic blend of classic soul, R&B, and pop (she mentions artists such as Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin as references) mixed with her distinct rhythmic sense. Her lyrics have been described as a mix of “raw vulnerability with a playful exploration of love, femininity, and identity as a first-generation immigrant and millennial.” She performs both as a solo artist and a front woman of the funk, soul, and R&B band, Keba & The Usual Suspects. She launched her solo career in 2013 with the release of Wildfire, and in 2018, she followed it up with the release of the EP, Filmstrip.