Candi Sosa

Candi soon was asked to sit in on sessions with names like Poncho Sanchez, Paquito de Rivera, and Juan Pablo Torres. She played with Andy Garcia and Celia Cruz at “Carnaval Azucar”; she appeared at the Coliseum with Oscar de Leon; she played with Anita O’Day and Eddie Cano at “Jazz on the Hill” she did studio work with Eddie Palmieri and performed and recorded original arrangements with 23-piece H.M.A Jazz Orquestra.

One of her most treasured memories was captured by L.A. radio personality Hector Resendez: “The Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz, was honored on Sunday, September 25th, Andy Garcia was on hand to present Cruz with the gold medallion. There was an impressive line up of talent of particular note was fellow Cubana Candi Sosa’s beautiful musical medley of Celia’s most popular hits. Cruz was so inspired that she stood and enthusiastically applauded.”

In 1994, Candi self-produced “Cuba, Mi Corazon Te Llama”, her first CD of completely original tunes. From this album, Contigo No Quiero Na, with Oscar Hernandez and Andy Gonzales, was listed as one of the best songs of the year by Latin Beat Magazine. Songs Caribbean Blue and Sola Naci topped charts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and places as far as Germany and Argentina.

Candi thought she might settle in Miami, where she was a regular at the esteemed “Tropigala Home of the Stars”. But when Alan Geik and Jose Caridad “Perico” Hernandez, decided to reunite Caravana Cubana for a follow-up album to the Grammy-nominated “Late Night Sessions”, they called Candi back to Los Angeles. Candi was brought on as a new member of the Caravana Cubana familia, becoming part of the exclusive group which includes Chucho Valdez, Orlando “Maraca” Valle, Bamboleo, Pancho Quinto, and Rolo Martinez. Their album “Del Alma” was released on Warner Latina in 2002.