That Gaby Moreno’s upcoming appearance at the Broward Center for the Performing Art falls in the heart of Hispanic Heritage Month could be a happy accident for the musician whose Guatemalan heritage resonates distinctly through her art. Perhaps, though, it’s the stunning stylistic swath of her depth as a musician that truly sets her apart.
Moreno will perform at the Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater on Friday, Oct. 4.
Some people don’t see color. It’s as if Moreno doesn’t see genre. A singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer, Moreno is an artist of chameleon-like range, extending impressively beyond her musical fluency in Spanish and English.
She is as dynamic belting out a crunchy guitar rocker like “Solid Ground” on her latest album, “Dusk,” as she is channeling the Andrew Sisters with her trio side-project, the SongBirds. Her screen credits stretch from co-writing the theme song for the television sitcom “Parks and Recreation,” to composing the score for the 2021 dramatic film, “Language Lessons,” to voicing a character for the Emmy-winning Disney children’s series, “Elena of Avalor.”
Still, the impact of her talent is perhaps most striking in her effortless toggling between Anglo and Latin repertoire — the latter reaching an emotional peak in her heartfelt duet of “Luna de Xelajú” with actor Oscar Issac, a fellow Guatemalan native who grew up in South Florida and attended Miami Dade College before getting his BFA at Juilliard. The rendition of the stirring folk ballad, known as Guatemala’s second national anthem, is at the heart of Moreno’s desire to shine a light on Guatemalan music and Latin music in general.
“The song means a lot to me. I’ve been singing it since I was a little girl,” says Moreno, whose previous Fort Lauderdale performances have included opening for Nickel Creek at Broward Center this past February. “And I’ve been singing it live for years and years, usually as an encore. But I had never recorded it. I wanted to do that to pay homage to my roots and my country, where I was born and where my family still lives. So it’s a song that’s very close to my heart.”
That sentiment illuminated a mesmerizing performance of “Luna de Xelajú” at this year’s Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony — her soulful vibrato showcased this time in a duet with Mexican artist El David Aguilar, both of them emoting, strumming acoustic guitars and ultimately bringing down the house. The song has proved worthy of inclusion on both of Moreno’s last two albums: “X Mí (Vol. 1),” a 2023 acoustic set of Latin folk-driven songs that received the Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album at the ceremony, and the more eclectic followup, “Dusk.” A just-released deluxe version of that album features five new songs.
“The first version of ‘Luna de Xelajú’ was originally the way we recorded it, which was just with acoustic guitars and our vocals,” says Moreno, who has four nominations to go along with her Grammy, as well as a Latin Grammy as Best New Artist in 2013. “I just knew that I wanted to record a version of that song with more instruments and more production — just to give it a different spin. I basically took the same recording from the acoustic album and added all the other instruments on top of that.”
While Moreno says she loves folkloric music from Latin America, it’s no surprise that her influences are as diverse as her material. “I love blues and jazz and rock and soul and old music,” she says, “particularly music from the first six decades of the 20th century.”
She pursues that particular muse with the SongBirds, the three-part harmony vocal group she started more than a decade ago with Mexican-American singer-songwriter Erica Canales and Australian singer-songwriter Dannielle De Andrea.
“I was already listening to the Boswell Sisters and the Andrew Sisters,” Moreno says, “and I wanted to create a group with two of my best friends to start singing some of those songs — just because we love them. They’re also amazing singers and we love singing with each other.”
Moreno herself began singing when she was a child. “I was about 9 years old the first time I got on stage and sang in front of a big audience in Guatemala. And I kind of never stopped after that — I was singing everywhere I could in Guatemala. And then when I was 18, I moved to LA.”
She arrived in 2000, enrolled at the Musician’s Institute and was signed to a Warner Brothers recording contract. “It was like the perfect situation where I had a record deal, but I also started going to a school to learn more about the craft, meet other musicians and just become more involved in the music scene.”
She went on to open for Tracy Chapman and Ani DiFranco. Now a headliner, her concert at the Broward Center arrives the night after her appearance at the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
“I’ve been playing some jazz clubs, some festivals, and it’s been wonderful,” says Moreno, who as the recently named first UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador from Guatemala, has worked with non-profits to benefit children there, such as recording an educational children’s album to distribute to Guatemalans.
“People have been really warm and have been showing a lot of love for the new music.”
Selections from her previous eight albums flesh out her setlists. Depending on the date, she performs solo, with a quartet or, as in Fort Lauderdale, as part of a trio. No matter the configuration, her vocals spring from two languages.
“I feel very comfortable singing in both languages — since I was a teenager,” she says. “That’s when I discovered blues music and I started singing a lot in English. And then I rediscovered my Latin roots and I started listening to a lot of music in Spanish.”
For a performer such as Moreno, who’s made a career playing to her strengths as a bilingual, genre-defying artist, today’s highly fractured pop music landscape might appear to be less than accommodating. She, however, doesn’t see any downsides.
“Maybe 10, 15 years ago I would have,” she says. “But I feel like now it’s empowering. I feel like we’re living in a time where people are embracing that kind of diversity. Especially in the United States, there are so many immigrants that speak Spanish and also people who just embrace all kinds of music. The real music lovers out there will connect with anything as long as there’s music that’s authentic and honest and comes from a real place. I know I do.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Gaby Moreno”
WHERE: Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 4
TICKETS: $35, $45, $55
INFORMATION: Call (954) 462-0222 or
http://browardcenter.org
