Daughter of musicians, wife of a musician, mother of musicians, she has made music, breathed music, lived music since early childhood but never made a living out of it. Born from Afro Colombian father and Amerindian mother in the valleys of the Andes in Central Colombia, educated in Bogotá and settled for the past 25 years on the Caribbean Coast, her music rightfully incarnates the rich tri-ethnic diversity of Colombia, the Caribbean and the whole of South America.

Discovered for international audiences by three time Grammy Award winner music producer KC Porter in 2001, she’s now into her second album of inspirational world music, Talisman, under KC’s Insignia Records label. Here again she sings Bahá’u’lláh’s Words in a variety of ethnic musical styles from the sacred drumming traditions of the Circum-Caribbean with a new tribalglobal sound.

New Album coming up soon!
With husband Istvan and executive producer KC Porter, Leonor has just finished recording this new album of the Dely-Porter team: Ora Tambó (Pray Drum) in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

ORA TAMBÓ (Pray Drum) is a personal tribute of Istvan Dely, one-time Congo tatan’ganga priest in Cuba and the first conga drummer in his native Hungary, to his origins in drumming and spirituality: tata Cuatrovientos Probafuerza and Yayi Chola of Guanabacoa. He does so by adding to the rich legacy he once received, the accumulated harvest of forty years of spiritual and musical quest on three continents, and raising it to the new heights of a contemporary and global spirituality enshrined in Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation. Walking down this path with him as one soul in two bodies ever since he settled in Cartagena in 1977 has been his Afro-Colombian wife, singer-songwriter Leonor. Without her, Millero Congo (Sower of Congo Seeds), the name given to Istvan by his padrino back in Cuba as a mission statement, wouldn’t have blossomed into the family group of musicians and teachers that include their sons David and Shangó.

Istvan Dely, a Hungarian of African descent. Africa is music. And woman is music. Already in the womb you hear the comforting, nurturing, strengthening drumbeat of your mother’s heart. Leonor and Istvan live in Cartagena, on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia, in the very heart of Africa in America. I've been learning, playing and teaching drums for over thirty years: in Cuba, Europe, West Africa, Colombia, Haiti, Honduras, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guyana, Suriname, Brazil and the USA.

Reviews

"Her music has some of the most powerful rhythmic diversity I've ever heard, and on top of that, the words she has put to music are breathtakingly inspiring. She's a mix between Cesarea Evora and The Buena Vista Social Club with incredible spiritual depth... I make Latin music for a living and Leonor's CD Amame blew me away! There are 20 songs on the CD each with a different Latin roots rhythm and the backing musicians are awesome. The words that Leonor chose to set to music couldn't be more powerful and spiritually inspired!" KC Porter WorldBeat Productions (Producer - Santana/Ricky Martin/Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, etc..)

Incredibly soulful, jubilant, POWERFUL.
Reviewer: PercussionStands.com
Let me start by saying that I had already heard of the Dely family. I knew this cd would be a quality purchase, and I was certainly right. From start to finish, this cd provides the listener with a vast landscape of musical influences from around the world, and around your imagination. Their music is altogether tribal, funky, soulful, and sometimes, yes, even ROCKIN...I think just about everyone can find something on this cd to dig into...whether you like poppy stuff, club music, tribal percussion rhythms (of which, they are INCREDIBLE) or simply funky music...Millero Congo, in all it's creations, delivers.-Mac Cassity-PercussionStands.com

Of Amame

"A pure voice of inspiring lyrics and afro-latin rhythms: an explosion of sound in the purest of voices with a heart plucking acouistic guitar driven by drumming from many cultures, all supported by the soaring lyrics of other-worldly inspiration. have your heart and soul touched while your body dances along."
Reviewer: Tom Lysaght, playwright

"A musical masterpiece throughout! A must for any world music enthusiast!"
Reviewer: Tom Conelli, New York Times

"Great contribution for world music collections!
Amame is a rare find for the world music enthusiast! This collection of songs hold together well given the variety of nicely executed latin and afro-cuban rhythms . The passion of Leonor's vocals and other musicians makes for a deeply inspiring listening experience."
Reviewer: Scott Antilla, Executive Director, HarmonyWorks

"A solid mix of African and Afro-Latin American folk rhythms and musics. It is an unusual mix for a major music producer, and maybe one of K.C. Porter's finest recordings." Reviewer: Enrique Lopetegui - Los Angeles Times

"This recording should get serious and abundant praise from critics.
Haven't stopped listening to it since I bought it three weeks ago. Haven't stopped dancing either. What a joy to hear such uplifting words combined so masterfully with exuberant, delightful, and poignant melodies. The musicians are fantastic. Leonor's voice is superb. Can't say enough to extol this CD."
Reviewer: Billy Howell-Sinnard

"Amame is amazing!
Heart to heart love beats with spirit, professionalism, art, and pure grace. No prose gets close to describing the effect this music has on its listeners. Leonor loves us through her urgent song and our foundation is remade with joy." Reviewer: Tracy

http://www.leonordely.com/
http://www.istvandely.com/