Eva Cortés: La Malinche

Jazz vocalist Eva Cortés performs in Fall, 2026

SAN CARLOS, ARIZONA: On her ninth album, La Malinche, jazz vocalist, composer and  songwriter Eva Cortés sings back—loudly, rhythmically, and without apology. The album is a  record born from urgency, from ICE raids and systemic racism to abuse of power and erased  histories. She calls it “Protest meets Rhythm”: music as vindication, memory, and collective  dance floor. 

La Malinche, which focuses on identity, history, and cultural memory, features collaborations  with Pepe Rivero, Roman Filiú, Zaccai Curtis, Christian McBride, Antonio Sánchez, and other  leading musicians. Additionally Cortés has recorded with Jon Cowherd, Elio Villafranca, Luques  Curtis,, Kendrick Scott, Eric Garland, Luisito Quintero, Doug Beavers, Marvin Sewell, Lou Soloff,  Romero Lubambo, Mark Whitfield, among others. 

Recorded in Madrid and New York, the album brings together musicians Cortés has admired  and collaborated with throughout her life, creating what she describes as a deeply joyful, high energy studio experience—part recording session, part collective ritual. Cortés says the album  was initially inspired by several converging events in Eva’s life: after a serious accident that resulted in three degree burns and loss of three fingers on her hand, Eva set out on a healing journey through Brazil. In the course of her travels she met a historian who told her about La Malinche, an historic figure who, in the Spanish conquest of the Americas, was sold into slavery as a kid. Eva also learned how to kite ski on this trip, despite her missing fingers. “Those two are the only ones you need,’” her instructor told her.“A Tribo do Vento” (The Tribe of the Wind) was inspired by this experience,

Eva was also inspired to write “Letters From Heaven” about the tragic murder of 14 year-old Apache Indian, Emily Pike, and ended up traveling to San Carlos, AZ, to spend a week on the Reservation.  

“The following month, her body was found,” Cortés says. “This tragedy shook me to my core in  a way I couldn’t even articulate. Shortly after, I wrote the lyrics for ‘Letters to Heaven.’ The  following summer, I traveled to the San Carlos Apache Nation to honor her life and visit her  people. While there, beneath a white cross, I was inspired to write ‘Letters to Heaven.’” 

Let’s discover the music of collective ritual!