Guachinangos is a band known locally for fusing Mexican son jarocho with Colombian cumbia and other Latin American rhythms. 

The collective was born in the city of Philadelphia and has been presenting their contagious rhythm and music in festivals and concerts in different states such as New York, California and North Carolina since 2019. 

For one of the founding members of the band, musician Juan Carlos Marín, diversity plays an important role when they take the stage. Using instruments such as the violin, electric guitar, percussion, maracas and accordion, the Guachinangos always makes people dance and sing along. To their surprise, not only Spanish speakers enjoy their son latino, but also the general public whose primary language is not necessarily Spanish.

“That's what happens when there are different cultures in the same place," Marín said in an interview with AL DÍA. 

The band has eight members from different cultural backgrounds from Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay and El Salvador. 

For this Cinco de Mayo, the Guachinangos return with their son jarocho and cumbia at The Lounge at World Cafe Live at 9:00pm. This presentation is part of "Viernes Caliente", a musical residency that the collective received for the entire year 2023. 

"We want people to sing along too. Being able to involve people in our presentations is very important to us," explained Gabriella Grimaldi, also a founding member of the Guachinangos. 

The band performs at World Cafe Live on the first Friday of every month. Admission is free of charge.

Music academy for immigrant children

As part of their future projects, Juan Carlos and Gabriella shared with AL DÍA their latest initiative: the creation of a music academy for immigrant children. 

The academy is expected to be able to offer music classes to elementary and high school children in the Philadelphia area starting in June.

Both members seek to open the music space to the Latino youth community so that they can excel as artists in the future and recognizing the importance of representation.

The project is still under a first phase of preparation. The Guachinangos will be providing updates on the opening of the academy soon. 

For more information about the Guachinangos, click here.