AfriCaribe
Evaristo "Tito" Rodríguez, director, drums, voice, dance
Charles Barbera
Niolani Halloway
Isabelino Landor
Alicia Marrero
José Natal
Rafael Quiñones
Evelyn Rodríguez
Jessica Rodríguez
Ruth Venegas
AfriCaribe was established in 2000 by Evaristo "Tito" Rodríguez to celebrate the African influence in Puerto Rico and other countries of the Caribbean. The organization provides educational and cultural programming through four main programs: an academy in which professional dancers and musicians teach traditional drumming and dance of several Puerto Rican bomba rhythms; a performance ensemble that prepares and presents various styles of folk music from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean through song, dance, drums and other percussive instruments; a production company responsible for annual events including folklore conferences; and an education department that offers workshops and lectures.
Banda Ansiedad
Justino Román, manager
Simplicio Román, keyboard, accordion
Moisés Román, electric bass
Melecio Román, voice
Salomón Román, drums
Jesús Ocampo, synthesizer electric tuba
Alejandro Ocampo, alto saxophone
Simplicio Román was born in Acatlán del Rio, Guerrero, Mexico, where his uncles had a traditional band. He came to Chicago in 1993 and attended Benito Juárez High School, where he played with the band and the mariachi group. Simplicio and his brothers started playing together for birthdays and other family occasions, forming their band in 1996. The band's style is rooted in traditional brass orchestra music dating back to the nineteenth century, but played now by smaller groups of four to six musicians who are able to reproduce the sound of large brass sections with electronic keyboards and synthesizers. Their repertoire includes música ranchera, cumbias, and música tropical—a little bit of everything. Among the genres Ansiedad plays is the pasito duranguense, a style of music and dance that evolved in Chicago and has gained such popularity that it is now emulated by people in Mexico.
Los Chalanes
Roberto Arce, guitar
Alfredo Espinosa, cajón, guitar
Los Chalanes is an Afro-Peruvian trio formed by Roberto Arce, Anibal Bellido, and Alfredo Espinosa in the 1990s. When lead guitarist Roberto Arce moved to Florida, Bellido and Espinosa continued playing with other guitarists, calling themselves Trío Perú. For the Festival, two of the three original Los Chalanes will come together again to perform. Their instrumentation includes two guitars and a cajón. The cajón, the center of Afro-Peruvian music, is a wooden box turned into a drum, which dates back to the days of the slave trade in Latin America. Often joined by traditional dancers, the group plays traditional Afro-Peruvian music and dance forms such as the marinera, the festejo, and the alcatraz. In Chicago, they have rediscovered their Afro-Peruvian heritage, which they continue to pass on to younger generations.
The Essence
Ronald "Don Evoua" Vásquez
Thomas "P.R.ism" Cubas
William "Casino" Colón
Guest DJ: Jorge "DJ Maddjazz" Ortega
Hip hop and reggaetón artists who have performed in Chicago together and with others recently formed the crew The Essence. Their repertoire includes hip hop, Spanish hip hop, and reggaetón, but as Don Evoua explains, "They call it Spanish hip hop, they call it reggaetón, and they call it hip hop. But I just call it music." The Essence cites a variety of influences. On the one hand, the musicians admire the breath control of Eminem or the beats of Wu Tang Clan. But they are also interested in taking reggaetón back to its Latino roots by invoking more sounds of the clave and marimba. They want their audiences to understand that their music is not only about catchy rhythmic beats but also about the content, truth, and passion in their lyrics.
Grupo Nahuí Ollin/Tarima Son
Roberto Ferreyra, Director
Celeste Alsina
Montserrat Alsina
Irekani Ferreyra
Anabel Tapia
Roberto Ferreyra, a visual artist originally from Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico, learned Puerépecha indigenous traditions from his grandmother and learned to play guitar, Puerépecha songs, and sones de la laguna from his grandfather. As a child, he danced regional dances in street festivals; later, in Mexico City, he learned Latin American protest songs known as canción nueva and started dancing with Concheros (sacred Aztec dancers). In Chicago, he formed Nahuí Ollin in 1995 to perform indigenous ceremonial dances of Mexico. He and his family have dedicated years to the investigation and research of Aztec dance both in Mexico and the U.S. Members of the group also bring other skills. Montserrat Alsina, originally from Valencia, Venezuela, is a visual artist and dancer. Anabel Tapia started dancing with the Mexican Folkloric Dance Company as a child. She plays the jarana (a small stringed instrument traditional to jarocho music from Veracruz, Mexico). The group plays various indigenous instruments including the huehuetl drum, rattles, whistles, and a guitar made from a turtle shell.
Guarionex
Javier "Dedos de Oro" Méndez, cuatro
Mario Carrasquillo, voice
Israel Medina, guitar
Orlando Otero, bass
Efrain Otero, güiro
William Vélez, congas
Guarionex is dedicated to preserving and presenting música jíbara, music from the mountainous regions of Puerto Rico. The group is named after Guarionex, an Arawak warrior who fought against the Spanish colonization of the island of Borinquen, as Puerto Rico was originally called. In música jíbara, stringed instruments and sung poetic forms that date back hundreds of years to Spanish prototypes are combined with the Caribbean percussion sounds of the güiro rasp and hand drums. Javier Mendez, known as Dedos de Oro, is the director of the group and a virtuoso on cuatro, considered to be the Puerto Rican national instrument. He also teaches cuatro at the Ruiz Belvis Puerto Rican Cultural Center and formed the Primera Rondallita de Cuatro, a group of child cuatro musicians. Guarionex's repertoire includes traditional forms of seis, aguinaldo, and plena, as well as compositions by Méndez. Recently, they recorded a CD, Uniendo Raíces.
Latin Street Dancing, Inc.
Manuel Ceja, dancer
Rosa Villanueva, dancer
Latin Street Dancing is a dance studio and entertainment company that performs all forms of Latino music and dance. Headed by Lisa "La Boriqua," Latin Street Dancing provides classes in salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia sonidera, cha-cha-cha, and other Latino styles. The company also includes a folkloric dance department offering dances from Mexico, Chile, and Puerto Rico. Rosa Villanueva and Manuel Ceja are students of Samuel Cortez, choreographer and director, and Carmen Gallardo, the first dancer of the Mexican Dance Ensemble.
Carlos Mejía Guatemalan Marimba
Carlos Mejía, marimba
Katalina Trujillo, marimba
Carlos Mejía, a master Maya Quiché marimbero originally from a small town a two-hour drive from Chicastenango in Guatemala, is the founder and director of the cultural organization Ixchel. At an early age, he discovered his talent for playing the marimba, learning from neighbors and in school. He later trained in marimba, guitar, and woodwinds at the conservatory. He had his first professional job at the age of 12, and later joined the Guatemalan national army orchestra. A victim of torture during the Guatemalan civil war, he came to the United States in 1987 as a political exile. In 1993, he came to Chicago where he has been a major educator of marimba and Mayan culture in the Guatemalan community. Kathy Trujillo, also Guatemalan, has been an apprentice with Mejía for many years. Mejía and Trujillo are recipients of the 2006 Illinois Arts Council Master/Apprentice Award.
Gustavo López
Winner of the 2004 Illinois Arts Council's Artists Fellowship Award for his contributions to the arts, bolero musician Gustavo López rose to national prominence in Mexico with Trío Los Ángeles before joining the legendary trio Los Tres Ases (1960-66), one of the best-known bolero groups in the world. After 1968, he launched a solo career and was once listed among the eleven best voices in Mexico. In 1970, he moved to Chicago to continue his solo career. After working for a few years with Trio San Pedro in California, he returned to Chicago and joined Trío Los Duques, with whom he still performs on occasion. The bolero is a musical genre (often accompanied by dancing) born in Cuba in the nineteenth century and a descendant from the Cuban canción. The themes are usually about love in all its variations: eternal love, unrequited love, love lost, and separation.
MAYCO Andes
Hugo "Hugito" Gutiérrez, winds
Rogelio Linares, guitar
Ernesto Rodríguez, percussion
Milton Perugachi, charango guitar
MAYCO Andes is an altiplano (highland) Andean folk music ensemble founded by its director Hugo "Hugito" Gutiérrez. Their repertoire consists mainly of Bolivian musical traditions including sayas, tundiquí, and carnaval (music for carnival dance troupes). They also perform different rhythms from other altiplano regions of Ecuador, Perú, Chile, and Argentina. The members make their own Andean wind instruments, which include quena, quenacho, moxeño, siku, zampoña, and thoyo.
The Mexican Folkloric Dance Company of Chicago
José Luis Ovalle, Artistic Director, dancer
Matiana Medrano Ovalle, Artistic Director, dancer
In 1979, José Luis Ovalle was director of El Alma de México dance group, one of two groups that joined together in 1983 to form the Mexican Folkloric Dance Company, of which he is now artistic director. He first realized his talent when he was learning to dance in Chicago. He returned to Mexico on scholarships with various institutions and studied with renowned instructors. Ovalle keeps the repertoire fresh, changing it every year, but the audience always expects the jarabe tapatío from Jalisco, and polkas and dances from Veracruz. He presents about 13 Mexican regional dances in a year. He is the recipient of the 2006 Illinois Arts Council Fellowship and Master/Apprentice Award.
Perú Profundo
Carmen Mejía, Director, dancer
Hiledebrando Alcázar, dancer
Judith Glikberg, dancer
Daniel Glikberg, dancer
Carmen Mejía is the co-founder and director of Perú Profundo, a dance troupe that teaches about the roots and diversity of Peruvian tradition. Mejía was born in Perú where she learned to dance and performed for festivals and cultural events. She believes that through dance, Perú Profundo teaches history, culture, and a way of life. Their repertoire includes Peruvian traditional dances such as marinera, tondero, valicha, festejo, huaylarsh and landó.
Sones de México Ensemble
Víctor Pichardo, Artistic Director, vocals/huapanguera/jarana/guitar/
clarinet
Juan Díes, Executive Director, vocals/guitarrón
Lorena Íñiguez, vihuela/jarana/zapateado/small percussion
José Juan Rivera, vocals/requinto/violin
Victor Zacbé Pichardo, percussion/marimba
Javier Saume, drums/percussion
Sones de México Ensemble specializes in son, a rich and lively Mexican music tradition and its many regional styles, including huapango, gustos, chilenas, son jarocho and the roots of mariachi music. The group formed in 1994 to keep the tradition of Mexican son alive in its many regional forms, true to its roots and old masters, and current and fresh at the same time. The group has developed many original arrangements of traditional tunes and their CD recordings reflect their immigrant experience in the U.S.. Music Director Víctor Pichardo is an award-winning musician, arranger, composer, and educator who came from a 15-year career with the folk group Zazhil and the late singer Amparo Ochoa in Mexico. Guitarrón player and ethnomusicologist Juan Díes, co-curator of this year's Nuestra Música program, dancer and instrumentalist Lorena Íñiguez, master fiddler Juan Rivera, percussionist Zacbé Pichardo, and drummer Javier Saume form the rest of the team. Their involvement in Mexican folk music is diverse: besides recording and touring, they are have done independent studio work, film scoring, educational programs, live accompaniment of Mexican folkloric ballets, and musical collaboration with other groups including orchestral and symphonic ensembles.
Nelson Sosa and Paola Alemán
Nelson Sosa was born in the mountain town of Los Andes, near Santiago, Chile. During his youth, he learned music with his family. In Chicago, he is known as the grandfather of the peña, an informal music gathering, usually in restaurants, which started in South America in the 1960s. Sosa came to Chicago in 1983 to perform with the Época Quinta Latin Jazz Band at a club called La Sirena. When he arrived, his repertoire was South American folk music, but in his new surroundings, he had to learn Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban songs. Today he sings many different styles of Latin American music accompanied by guitar. He composes lyrics and has also been involved in educational programs for children, performing, composing, and writing songbooks for them. Paola Alemán, Nelson Sosa's daughter, has accompanied him singing for 17 years, and also works with him doing children's programs and workshops. Recently, they have incorporated dance in their programs.
Special Guests:
Trío Chalchihuecan
José Gutiérrez, requinto
Marcos Ochoa, jarana
Felipe Ochoa, harp/arpa
National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow José Gutiérrez and the Ochoa brothers represent the best of the son jarocho tradition from the southern coastal plain of Veracruz, Mexico. The virtuosic interaction among these musicians-singers creates an exciting dialogue of musical and textual flow that defines the simple harmonic, yet rhythmically complex, style of the dance music that is the son jarocho.
National Heritage Fellow del NEA, José Gutiérrez y los hermanos Ochoa representan lo mejor de la tradición jarocha del sur de Veracruz, México. La interacción virtuosa entre estos músicos quienes tocan y cantan crea un diálogo musical y textual cuyo flujo define el estilo armónicamente sencillo y al mismo tiempo rítmicamente complejo de esta música con su baile que es el son jarocho.
Son de Madera
Ramón Gutiérrez Hernández, requinto
Andrés Vega Hernández, jarana
Laura Marina Rebolloso Cuellar, leona (jarocho bass guitar)
Juan Pérez, bass
Founded in 1992, Son de Madera seeks to diffuse son jarocho based on research of traditional jarocho music from Veracruz, Mexico, and the incorporation of new sounds. The group has been featured on numerous television and radio programs in Mexico and the United States. In 1993, they toured to folk and traditional music festivals in Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, and Morocco. Their recordings have been used in film soundtracks, television documentaries, and theater.
Suni Paz and Rafael Manríquez
Suni Paz is a singer, a pioneer of Latin American music "with a conscience," an educator, a composer, and a social activist. Her experiences as a youth in Buenos Aires filled her with the sounds and sentiments of tango, bolero, milonga, and folk music from rural Argentina. After resettling to the United States during the South American political turmoil of the 1960s, she recorded several albums for Folkways Records and another for the Paredon label, now part of the Smithsonian Folkways collections. Throughout her career, her music making has followed her social commitments. Her 2006 album on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, Bandera Mía: Songs of Argentina, is her first recording that embodies the regional song traditions of her homeland, infused with her own creativity and tinged by the sensibilities of the South American urban folk song movement. www.sunipaz.com
Rafael Manríquez—singer, composer, guitarist, and multi-instrumentalist—has been one of the leading exponents of Latin American music in the San Francisco Bay Area for over twenty years. Originally from Santiago, Chile, he joined the mainstream of the South American folksong movement, drawing from regional folk instruments and genres to create new compositions, musical textures, and lyrics calling for social justice for the poor and oppressed. After moving to the Bay Area in 1977, he became the lead singer and musical director of Grupo Raíz, an internationally acclaimed Chilean "new song" nueva canción ensemble that recorded three albums, including two on the Monitor label that now forms part of the Smithsonian Folkways collections. Since 1984, Rafael has worked as a solo artist, recording several CDs and teaching and performing throughout northern California. www.rafaelmanriquez.com
