Estér

About

Estér y Alain is the duo of singer Ester Veldhuis and guitarist and composer Alain Labrie, and their repertoire hops across the Spanish and Portuguese speaking world. One song might be an Argentine chamamé, the next a funny Tex Mex number, then Portuguese fado, swinging son cubano or Cape Verdean music, each treated as a little story of its own. Labrie started on piano as a kid, switched to electric guitar in bands, and got hooked on flamenco in his twenties, taking masterclasses with Paco Peña in Cordoba and Carlos Heredia in Seville. He has played in Luzazul and da Gaia, leads the flamenco band Labryenco, writes all his own compositions and has released three albums. Veldhuis grew up on gospel, blues, jazz and rock, found her voice in a flamenco choir in Amsterdam, and spent time living in Spain and Bolivia. In Bolivia she co founded the band Atajo and was named singer of the year in 1997. She has also sung with Los Dolores and the trio Golondrinas.