Hailed as "the swinging queen of Polish jazz," Moreno enjoyed a decades-long career and was one of the country's first jazz vocalists after World War II.
She was born on July 30, 1926, in Altona near Hamburg, Germany, to a family of dancers—a Polish father and a Spanish mother.
She made her debut as a child, performing with her parents’ duo, Los Morenos.
After the war, she settled in Mysłowice in southern Poland and performed with the Melomani, Poland's first self-styled jazz group, founded in 1951.
Moreno won the top prize at the 1958 jazz festival in Budapest, a breakthrough that launched her international career.
Her mix of swing and Latin influences earned her a wide following abroad.
She married multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Jan Walasek in 1969, and the pair later emigrated to northern Europe, performing together on luxury cruisers operated by the Norwegian America Line.
They were in Poland when the communist government imposed martial law in 1981 and decided to remain in the country.
Moreno continued performing in the decades that followed. A gala marking the 65th anniversary of her debut was held at the Jazz Jamboree International Festival in Warsaw in 2010.
She is survived by her granddaughter, jazz vocalist Anna Serafińska.
Anna Serafińska and Carmen Moreno performing together in 2016. PAP/Tomasz Waszczuk
(mk/gs)