Yissy García Calzadilla

Renowned Cuban drummer.

Yissy was born inheriting a great musical heritage that comes from her father and inspiration, percussionist Bernardo García, founder of the mythical group Irakere. From an early age she is drawn to percussion, at nine years old she begins elementary music studies at the Manuel Saumell school, and later continues her intermediate level at the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory.

At 15 years old she discovers her preference for drums and begins to study it in a self-taught manner. Very soon she captures general attention and achieves her first successes. In 2002 she makes a special appearance at the PERCUBA Percussion Festival.

In 2005 she is invited to perform as a soloist on the paila alongside the National Symphonic Orchestra of Cuba under the direction of the distinguished maestro Zenaida Romeu, obtaining the Special Prize in the International Festival competition Fiesta del Tambor and the Special Mention for Accompaniment at the International Festival of Young Jazz Musicians JOJAZZ.

She participates in the Barbados Jazz Festival with the Quinteto Chico de La Habana, a group formed by outstanding students from the Conservatory, in 2006. At that event she has the pleasure of sharing the stage with Horacio Hernández (El Negro), Giovanni Hidalgo, Arturo Tappin and Roy Hargrove, prestigious and renowned jazz musicians in the international arena. That same year she obtains the Second Prize for Performance at the International Festival of Young Jazz Musicians JOJAZZ, and graduates in the specialty of percussion.

Fully entering the professional field, her restless and energetic temperament sets the tempo for a career in constant ascendancy and personal search, always marked by her greatest passion: jazz.

From 2006 to 2011 she is part of the all-female salsa orchestra Anacaona, performing on stages throughout Cuba and at international festivals: Art Jazz Festival, Sunfest, La Nuit de África, Músicas del Mundo and Montreal Jazz Festival in Canada; the jazz festivals of Curaçao, Martinique, Trinidad Tobago, Guadeloupe, Barbados, Saint Lucia and Aruba. At the latter she had the opportunity to perform alongside saxophonist David Sanborn.

Also during that period and to the present day, her versatility and skill allow her to work alongside other musicians and genres, from emerging artists to seasoned performers: Omara Portuondo, Bobby Carcassés, Raúl Paz, Joaquín Betancourt, Alexis Bosch, Orlando Sánchez (CubaJazz), Yasek Manzano, Roberto Carcassés and Interactivo, Kelvis Ochoa and Roberto García, to name just a few.

She has traversed the Havana music scene from end to end. In 2010 she conducts the Cuban-American singer Cucu Diamantes tour through Cuba and participates in the Proposiciones Festival alongside breakthrough vocalist Luna Manzanares. In 2011 she performs a special presentation during the Nights of the Drummers at the tenth edition of the International Festival Fiesta del Tambor, teaches Cuban percussion classes at the Mapess Multipurpose Center in Angola, and participates with the Norwegian band Jumbo at the Luanda Jazz Festival.

In 2012, at only 25 years old, and being a mandatory reference for percussion performed by women on the Island, signed with the renowned brands Sabian (cymbals) and LP (percussion instruments), she decides to launch her solo career debuting as leader of a musical project that follows the routes of latin jazz, funk and electronic music. Her debut concert, on August 4, 2012 at the Teatro de Bellas Artes in Havana, marked an excellent beginning with a band that brought together some of the vanguard of the Island's young jazz musicians.

In 2013 she was awarded First Place in the Drums category of the first edition of the International Jazz Master Jam Festival Competition, held in Odessa, Ukraine. The competition brought together forty finalists from sixteen countries, judged by a jury presided over by prestigious Russian musician Anatoly Kroll.

Currently she leads a quintet as her regular format, made up of Jorge Aragón (piano), Julio César González (bass), Julio Rigal (trumpet), Dj Jigüe (equipment) and Yissy (drums). The musical product, the result of close group work, has been defined as a sample of the "new sound of Cuban jazz".

Awards
2013 First Place in the Drums Category of the first edition of the International Jazz Master Jam Festival Competition, Odessa, Ukraine.
2006 Second Prize for Performance at the International Festival of Young Jazz Musicians JOJAZZ. Havana, Cuba.
2005 Special Mention for Accompaniment at the International Festival of Young Jazz Musicians JOJAZZ. Havana, Cuba.
Special Prize in the Competition of the International Festival Fiesta del Tambor. Havana, Cuba.

Collaborations
2013 CD Dactilar. Héctor Quintana. Jazz Young Spirit Collection. Producciones Colibrí.
CD Trance. Yoandry Argudin. Jazz Young Spirit Collection. Producciones Colibrí.
CD Lo que tú esperabas Orquesta Anacaona. Producciones Colibrí.
2012 DVD Live Cuban Percussion. Edgar Ochoa, Adel González and Yaroldy Abreu.
Producciones Colibrí.
CD Canciones de Lázaro García. Emilio Morales. Producciones Colibrí.
2011 CD Sueños del pequeño King. Joaquín Betancourt and the Jazz Band. Jazz Young Spirit Collection. Producciones Colibrí.
2010 Soundtrack to the animated feature film Chico y Rita. Orquesta Anacaona.
Dir. Fernando Trueba.
2010 CD En la espera. Michel Herrera. Jazz Young Spirit Collection. Producciones Colibrí.
2008 CD No lo puedo evitar. Orquesta Anacaona. Bis Music
2007 CD Cuba le canta a Serrat. Orquesta Anacaona. Discmedi