Led by founder Simón Mejía and the explosive singer and rapper Li Saumet, the Bogotá based electro cumbia superstars BOMBA ESTÉREO make “kinetic dance songs that jitter with so much electricity and energy that they sound as if they could blow up your speakers.” (Washington Post) They’ll close our 41st season with a bang.
Bomba Estéreo has its origins in 2001, when Mejía was part of a loose collective of musicians and visual artists called A.M. 770, which was influenced by Colombian groups like Sidestepper and Bloque de Busqueda, who had started combining the traditional Colombian sounds of salsa and cumbia with electronic beats and dance music. A.M. 770 eventually became a solo project for Mejía, and in 2006 he changed the name to Bomba Estéreo and released the seven-track Vol. 1, which featured contributions from many of his A.M. 770 compatriots—including Liliana "Li" Saumet. A creative spark was lit that has never been extinguished; Bomba has gone on to release four critically acclaimed (and dancefloor beloved) full length albums, including most recently, 2017’s Ayo.
Fiery local Colombian expat outfit DELSONIDO gets the party started right. Founded in 2014 in Brooklyn, NY, Delsonido came together when two of its founding members Elkin Pautt and Ivan Garizabalo, Colombians hailing from Barranquilla, wanted an outlet for blending their Caribbean influences with the sounds they were encountering in the vibrant NYC music scene.
