Artist's albums
Lo Mejor De Xiomara Alfaro Vol. 1
1993 · album
Amor de Verano
2022 · album
Cuban Siboney
2021 · single
Alma llanera (Remastered)
2020 · album
Angelitos Negros (Remastered)
2020 · album
El Manicero (Remastered)
2020 · album
Siboney (Remastered)
2020 · album
Thunder
2018 · album
La pampa y la puna
2018 · album
La Maravillosa Voz de la Afrocubana
2018 · album
No Puedo Ser Feliz
2017 · album
12 Exitos de Ayer
2017 · album
Lo Mejor de Xiomara Alfaro
2017 · album
Rescatando los Éxitos Originales del Long Play
2015 · album
Aquellas Canciones
2015 · album
Perlas Cubanas: Xiomara Alfaro
2015 · album
Perlas Cubanas: Amor de Mi Bohío
2014 · album
Una Leyenda Cubana
2013 · album
Xiomara Alfaro, Cubana
2013 · album
Moliendo Café
2012 · album
Vintage Cuba No. 82 - EP: Lamento Borincano
1959 · single
Vintage Cuba No. 153 - EP: Angelitos Negros
1959 · single
En Gira
1962 · album
En Gira
1962 · album
La Inimitable
1964 · album
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Biography
Americans unfamiliar with the Hispanic community, and there are a few of them, might come to the following conclusion: Xiomara Alfaro is not just the most famous person named Xiomara living in the United States, she's the only one. In reality, Hispanic females have always had a fair chance of being named Xiomara, pronounced something like "shiomara" or "jiomara," and the first name is nowhere near the obscurity league of Xanthipour, Xiomysfer, or Xubitunt. A guy with the name Helio Orovio seems like he might know better than the aforementioned WASPs, yet this author of Cuban Music from A to Z gets thrown a sexual curve ball with his entry on the famous female singer, identifying Xiomara Alfaro as a man! While there are men whose performances have been compared to Diana Ross, Joan Jett, and/or Carmen Miranda, a thoroughly enjoyable way to positively prove it's a she-omara is to watch the exotic 1958 film Mambo, in which Alfaro and Sylvana Mangano are the two sultry female leads. Born in Havana, Alfaro's performing background was in musical theater, cabaret, radio, and television. She eventually began touring internationally, leaving Cuba for the United States and widening her repertoire to include anything remotely Latin. She was a singer and dancer with the touring Katherine Dunham troupe and performed in the chorus at Las Vegas venues such as the Flamingo. Alfaro is married to the pianist Rafael Benitez. Her sister, the late Olympia Alfaro or Omí Sanyá, was a priestess or "apuón" in the Lukumí Orisha religious community, performing a type of gospel music particular to this following. In the '70s, Xiomara Alfaro herself became ordained by her sister in the Oshún faith. She continues to perform and record Latin music and often takes part in workshops and educational events with her husband. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi