Sat, Jun 28 - 9pm - $12

 Chicha Libre plays a mixture of latin rhythms, surf music and psychedelic pop inspired by Peruvian music from Lima and the Amazon. The Brooklyn-based band mixes up covers of forgotten Chicha classics with French-tinged originals, re-interpretation of 70’s pop classics as well as cumbia versions of pieces by Satie and Wagner.  Chicha was loosely inspired by Colombian accordion-driven cumbias but incorporated the distinctive pentatonic scales of Andean melodies, some Cuban son, and the psychedelic sounds of surf guitars, farfisa organs and moog synthesizers. Peruvian chicha bands were playing an oddly post-modern combination of western psychedelia, Cuban and Colombian rhythms, national melodies and idiosyncratic inventions which were close in spirit to both the Congolese rumba of Franco and the pop syncretism of Os Mutantes.  The music was so fresh, so exciting and its appeal so effortlessly universal that it still seems strange that it never managed to find an international audience. Chicha Libre was started as a way to pay tribute to the music. The group includes musicians associated with the Brooklyn barbès and includes Keyboardist Joshua Camp, who is one half of lit-rock group One Ring Zero and plays an antiquated accordion/organ hybrid manufactured by Hohner called the Electravox; Olivier Conan (who also play with Las Rubias del Norte and is responsible for The Roots of Chicha compilations) on Cuatro and vocals; Bassist Nicholas Cudahy whose former band, Combustible Edison, knew a thing or two about pop syncretism; Guitarist Vincent Douglas (of bands Bébé Eiffel & The Humphries) and percussionists Greg Burrows (Andy Statman) and Neil Ochoa (SiSe & Los Crema Paraiso).  While Chicha Libre’s repertoire has evolved somewhat from the Peruvian canon, the sound and approach are completely indebted to the Peruvian bands it originally emulated. Like them, they use surf guitar, organ sounds and latin percussion to play a mixture of borrowed and homegrown sounds. The borrowings are somewhat different - classical music and pop debris from 3 continents in Chicha Libre's case – but the latin rhythms that form the basis of the music are both as close and as foreign to them as they were to the Shipibo Indians who first took up the electric guitar.  Chicha Libre has performed all over the world, including Turkey, The UK, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Colombia, the US and Canada. They have showcased at WOMEX, in Copenhagen, and Globalfest, in NYC. They have played in Los angeles with guitarist Jose Carballo, of Chacalon y la Nueva Crema fame, and in Berlin with Ranil, the legendary cumbiero from Iquitos. They have toured with cambodian psych-band Dengue Fever and shared the stage with Brazilian Girls and the Orchestre Poly-rythmo de Cotonou.  Chicha Libre's music has been featured in the TV show Weeds and a Simpsons 20th anniversary special in which they were asked to play the Simpsons theme "chicha" style alongside the likes of Red Hot Chili Pepper and ZZ Top. Their first CD, Sonido Amazonico, is available from Barbès Records in North America, Crammed Disc in Europe and Random Records in South America. Their follow up Album is due in the spring of 2012 and a 45 featuring La Danza del Los Simpsons and La Danza de Los Valkyries will be released in May

 Dos Santos is a Chicago-based band that rocks the sounds of popular Latin dance genres with psychedelic flare, from Colombian Cumbia to Afro-Caribbean Salsa. Anchored by reverb-slathered guitars, Hammond organ, and syncopated percussion, their gritty and grassroots approach captures the “golden age” of streamlined ensembles of the 1970s and 80s that shook sweatbox dance floors with fierce energy all over Latin America.  After making their debut in May of 2013, Dos Santos has been steadily making the rounds at Chicago’s premiere live music venues and festivals—from the prestigious Millennium Park Summer Music Series to the exclusive Chicago World Music Festival. In March of 2015, they released their critically-acclaimed self-titled debut album Dos Santos and subsequently toured the United States, making appearances at SXSW, the Pachanga Latino Music Festival, and the Ruido Fest Latin Alternative Music Festival along the way. They have taped live sessions at the world-renowned Latin music headquarters Congahead Studios with the legendary Martin Cohen and WBEZ Chicago’s Live From Studio 10 curated by Vocalo, among others. In 2016, the band released their follow-up EP entitled “Fonografic” on Electric Cowbell Records which was produced by Beto Martínez of Grammy Award-winning Grupo Fantasma. Recently, they teamed up with Money Chicha to release a 7" vinyl split entitled "Summit Sessions" on Sonorama Discos. The group’s five members (Peter Vale, Alex Chavez, Daniel Villarreal-Carrillo, Jaime Garza, Nathan Karagianis) have their own storied careers in a range of styles—including jazz, R&B/soul, traditional Mexican folk, punk, cumbia, salsa, and electronica—in addition to a history of critical involvement in arts education and social justice organizing. Their visceral sound draws from this sonic, cultural, and political well of influence, and is guaranteed to make you move. 

¡ESSO! Afrojam Funkbeat is a dynamic musical ensemble formed in Chicago in 2013. They perform a variety of roots rock inspired dance music from North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean Islands. The ethnically diverse musicians establish energizing polyrhythmic grooves and combine biting twang guitars, thumping bass, with the strength of brass horns, group singing, and urban poetry. Members: Armando Pérez, Kevin Miller, Dan Lieber, Ezra Lange, Diana Mosquera, Puerko Pitzotl, Jess Anzaldua, Matt Davis, and Luis Tubens all bring a vital cultural contribution to the band's unique "afrojam funkbeat" sound. Inspired by Chicago's soulful blues, jazzy house, and global fusion heavyweights, the group deliver their performances with purpose and verve; unifying listeners through sound and dance. ¡ESSO! was awarded "Best New Band," and "Best World/International Music Act" by the Chicago Reader's Poll in 2016. Their latest album offering, Pueblo Unido, is a remix album of their debut record. Fresh back from an appearance at SXSW and their first festival date in México, ESSO is planning a national tour in the Summer of 2017 to bring their music to new listeners across the states and beyond.  More info and music: www.essoafrojamfunkbeat.com