Born in Madrid, Spain, Carmen grew up singing from a very early age. A member of the choirs in both church and school, she was often asked to be a soloist, as she displayed a natural gift for singing. At home, she took up the guitar, and self-taught by the age of fifteen, she began composing the lyrics and music to her own songs. Around this time, while playing and singing at a party with some friends, she met singer, and now journalist, Jos Martin, of the group "Somos". Within a short period of time they began doing concerts as a duo, with Carmen presenting herself as a singer and composer in public for the first time. With the recording of the group by the EMI Record Company, Carmen got her first taste of working in the recording studio, and became a published songwriter. Shortly thereafter, while pursuing her degree in education at the University of Madrid, Carmen auditioned, and was asked to join the cast of the show "Godspell" in the role of Mary Magdalena.

And so, at the age of seventeen, she put her studies on hold to perform both in Madrid, and throughout the rest of Spain with this theater troupe. The cast included many talented performers, comedians, actors, dancers and singers, many of whom later went on to become well known personalities in the world of Spanish entertainment.

Upon her return to Madrid, Carmen's career, both as a performing artist and as an in-demand studio singer, flourished. Her days were spent at recording sessions of all types while at night she was performing in various theatrical productions in Madrid's major theaters. This did not, however, prevent her from continuing to develop her talents as a songwriter and artist in her own right. Her working relationships with other prominent artists and writers of the time led to many interesting developments in her own style, while at the same time she was experimenting with jazz by collaborating with the musicians on the scene around Madrid at that time.

These experiences enriched her writing and singing style and opened the door to many future involvements with other jazz artists. During this period, Carmen also appeared in a major film production, "Retrato de Familia", but found the movie-making experience very emotionally draining, and decided to focus on music and theater, including a six month visit to London to study dance and English.

It was in 1979 that Carmen came in contact with jazz guitarist Chuck Loeb, who she met while he was performing in Madrid with the legendary jazz saxophonist Stan Getz. Although she was extremely busy at the time, performing in the Teatro Monumentál production of the hit show “El Diluvio Que Viene” at night, and recording all day, Carmen made sure to attend the Getz appearance in Madrid because of her intense love of Bossa Nova, and in particular the landmark Getz/Gilberto recording where she first discovered the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim.

After one of the shows, Carmen and Chuck met, and it was love at first sight. Over the next few months they stayed in contact, despite Carmen’s busy work scene and Chuck’s touring, and within six months of their first encounter, Carmen relocated to New York City, and they were married, with Getz acting as best man at their wedding.

One can only imagine the drastic change in Carmen's life. Only love sustained the hardships of their first years together. With Chuck still on tour with Stan Getz much of the time, Carmen found herself alone, jobless and far away from family and friends in the vast metropolis that is New York City. Slowly she began to make personal and professional contacts, working at first in local Spanish Repertory Theaters, and occasional recording sessions. At that time Pianist Andy LaVerne, who had been a member of the Getz group along with Chuck, was so enthralled with Carmen's singing that he established the group "Paradise" to showcase her voice and the music written by himself and Carmen. The group also included bassist Mark Egan and drummer Danny Gottleib, both members of the popular Pat Metheny Group at the time, and together they performed for over two years in many of the well-known clubs in New York.

Eventually Chuck parted ways with Getz, and the couple had more time to write music together. This led to the formation of their own group "Paralelo", a blend of jazz, pop, rock and latin styles. Over the years the band included many notable musicians, such as bassists Will Lee, Paul Socolow, drummers Peter Erskine, Dave Weckl, Joey Barron and Steve Ferrone, pianists Clifford Carter and Mitchel Forman, saxophonists Michael Brecker, Bill Evans and Bob Mintzer among many others. Just as in her early days in Madrid and Barcelona, Carmen always found herself collaborating with the best musicians around. And to this day, she continues to surround herself with the highest caliber of backing musicians, as is evidenced by the star studded line-ups featured on all her CDs. Her sophisticated compositional skills were an integral part of the group's sound, as she either composed or co-wrote almost all of the material. They performed and recorded for many years in and around New York City.

At around this same time Carmen was asked to co-host a television talk magazine show "Imagenes" for SIN, the largest Spanish-speaking network in The United States. She conducted interviews and discussed developments in the world of arts and entertainment.

After a year Carmen became pregnant with her first child and in 1985 she left the show to focus only on motherhood. In July of the same year her first daughter Christina was born and her life took a completely new direction. Within another year she had Elizabeth, her second daughter, and she made the decision to devote herself entirely to her family.

Any spare time she had, she used for her other two loves; tennis and literature. She went back to college and slowly started to work towards her degree in English Literature. During these years Chuck's career as an in-demand studio guitarist and producer provided an outlet for Carmen's talents as a composer and singer. While continuing to care for her family and young children, she somehow found time to write songs and record with such notable artists as Earl Klugh, Nelson Rangell, Jim Hall, Grover Washington, Jr., Larry Coryell, Donald Harrison, Gato Barbieri, Michael Franks, Spyro Gyra, Till Brönner, Jon Lucien, Peabo Bryson, Metro, and all of Chuck's CDs.

In 1996, when her daughters were a bit older and in school many hours each day, Carmen re-focused her energies on her own music once again. She recorded and released her first CD as a solo recording artist, "One Kiss", and began to step back into the music world. With the release of her second CD, "Peace of Mind", on Skip Records, she established herself as a singer and songwriter with a unique style and sound, blending her love and knowledge of many musical flavors, with her mellifluous voice, accompanied by some of the foremost talents in contemporary music including saxophonist Bill Evans, and pianist Bob James.

The next CD in 2002 was “Dreams”, which was a richly layered introspective work, again featuring a slew of top musicians including saxophonist Michael Brecker and bassist John Patitucci, among others.

Then in 2006, after the family moved to an Island in South Carolina, she released the deeply personal “You Still Don’t Know Me” CD, where on the title track you can hear her begin to rekindle her love of Brazilian music, as well as some haunting personal dedications to her recently departed father, “Tarde”, and social commentary on the song “Religions”, and another collaboration with the late Michael Brecker on the song “Todo Para Ti”, one of his last recordings.

Over the span of these four recordings, Carmen’s music grew in popularity, receiving worldwide recognition and a growing international following. And in fact her songs have been placed on over 80 compilation CDs from Japan to Poland to England to Germany, and of course Spain and the U.S. – marking her as one of the most sought-after artists in this area.

2008 brought the 50th Anniversary of the Bossa Nova, and Carmen and Chuck took the occasion to put together a show celebrating the music that brought them together, especially that of Antonio Carlos Jobim. They toured with an all-star group featuring Will Lee, Eric Marienthal, and the wonderful Brazilian percussionist Café, among others, and found themselves re-discovering their deep love of the music.

This experience led up to Carmen’s latest project, which is in fact a dedication to the master - A.C. Jobim.

For nearly two years she immersed herself in the intense study of the art of the Bossa Nova, including honing her skills on the guitar again. She was especially inspired by the collaboration of Jobim with the legendary Brazilian singer Elis Regina, on the classic “Tom and Elis” album and decided to record her own interpretations of many songs from that project.

It was a true labor of love for Carmen; first working, painstakingly on beautiful, poetic translations of the original lyrics from Portuguese to Spanish, and then after coming up against some legal issues, she dove into the arduous task of learning to sing the songs in the original Portuguese.

The result, “Mi Bossa Nova”, is classic Carmen Cuesta.

Featuring an array of elegant interpretations of Jobim and other Brazilian composers, as well as two beautiful originals: “Jobim”, and “Tormenta”. Again she establishes her self as an artist of distinct class, with a rich warm palette of sounds and musicians.

But the most striking aspect of this CD is her singing. While Carmen has always been a communicator with her voice, one can now hear an artist who has reached that rare balance of emotional connection, with technical prowess, and of course the beautiful lilting quality that her fans instantly recognize. Ranging from the classic Bossa performance of “Fotografia”, and "Meditaçao", to the pure emotional yearning of “Modinha”, "Manha de Carnaval", and “Retrato. She taps into a more upbeat, syncopated style on “Chega de Saudade”, and “Triste”, and then catches the listener off guard on the haunting “Pois É”,where she displays a sultry, intimate quality as though she were channeling the spirit of Elis Regina.

After debuting some of the material at last summer’s Ladies Jazz Festival in Gdansk, Poland, Carmen is excited about her new partnership with Sony Records Poland, and the debut of her own label Tweety Records, and is ready to begin touring and doing concerts in support of the new CD this Spring and Summer.

She and Chuck split their time between the United States and Spain with their two daughters, Christina and Lizzy and their pet sparrow, Tweedy.