Born in Louisiana to parents of Greek and Irish descent, raised between Boston, Los Angeles, Hawaii and Seattle, Layla Angulo began playing the piano at age five, the saxophone at age ten, and was performing in jazz clubs by the time she was fourteen. After her studies at Cornish College of the Arts, this talented young woman moved to Spain where she played and performed with Spanish and European musicians. Returning from Europe, Layla was moved by what she heard in Afro-Peruvian music. Her study of composers such as Chabuca Granda, and Susana Baca led to her to writing music that mixed jazz with Afro-Peruvian rhythms. After the release of her first CD, Layla expanded her interests in World rhythms and began a study of the complex rhythms of her Greek ancestry as well as experiments in mixing World rhythms and jazz. Layla toured Sicily where she performed sold-out concerts with some of Italy’s finest jazz musicians. The song La Rumbera, written by Layla Angulo and Walter Torres, was Semi-Finalist in the 2005 International Songwriting Competition (ICS) and in 2006 it received an Honorable Mention. Layla not only composes for herself and her group, but has also written numerous songs and albums for other artists and for a short films including Cinder starring Julia Ling (Jackie Chan Disciples), which is due out later this year. With the release of two Latin Jazz CDs, and an intensely loyal and growing fan base, Layla and her band create a thrilling musical experience wherever they perform whether it is a quintet or her large 13 piece orchestra, as can be heard on her CD, Live at the Triple Door. Live at the Triple Door has received high praise from not only the Seattle Times and the Stranger, but is being played on a regular basis in Radio Stations across the world. Most recently, Keilwerth saxophones and Sonare Wind flutes have endorsed Layla. She only plays a Keilwerth saxophone on Live at the Triple Door. As one of a handful of women instrumentalists performing in the genre, Layla may very well be the only female saxophonist/composer/vocalist of authentic Latin, Afro-Peruvian Jazz in the world today.