Maritzaida is a Puerto Rican vocalist whose rich, low-range voice and deep connection to tradition have brought new life to the romantic, jazz-tinged genre known as música bohemia. Raised in the coastal town of Isabela, she grew up immersed in the sounds of boleros and poetry, drawn to the music of legendary composer Sylvia Rexach from an early age—never imagining that her own path would one day lead to the revival of Rexach’s lesser-known works.

After a decade of performing around the world with her husband and guitarist AJ Weibe as military musicians—including a three-year posting in Tokyo—the couple stepped away from music for five years. In 2022, a casual suggestion to revisit the boleros Maritzaida loved as a child led to a new chapter. A home-recorded demo quickly caught the attention of guitarist and producer Charlie Hunter, who signed her to SideHustle Records. In 2023, the duo released Boleros Clásicos Volumen Uno and Volumen Dos, capturing the timeless beauty of the genre in stripped-down, single-microphone recordings.

Their exploration deepened with Alma Adentro: La Música de Sylvia Rexach y Tutti Umpierre (2024), a faithful recreation of Rexach’s 1958 album with Umpierre. The project led them to Rexach’s daughter, actress and singer Sharon Riley, who became a close collaborator. With Riley’s guidance and memories of her mother’s compositions, Maritzaida and AJ began reconstructing arrangements that had rarely, if ever, been recorded—carefully shaped to reflect the original spirit of the music.

Since then, their collaborative work has expanded into a multi-album journey. Sentimientos En Vivo (2024) was recorded live around a single microphone, blending bolero classics with rarely heard Rexach/Umpierre compositions and the haunting resonance of cello and seven-string guitar. El Otro Camino followed, spotlighting four songs written by Rexach and Umpierre for a 1950s Puerto Rican film—faithfully reconstructed with Riley’s input. In 2025, the concept album Radio Bohemia Volumen I reimagined Rexach’s original radio broadcasts, with interludes voiced by Puerto Rican actor Robi Arce Martínez and a centerpiece performance of Dios de Oro by Sharon Riley herself.