Las Guaracheras

The all-female sextet Las Guaracheras was born in 2017 in the city of Cali, Colombia, an initiative of the percussionists Laura Linares and Mónica Castro. As lovers of the son (“sound” in Spanish) and guaracha genres, they decided to form an instrumental group in which they could express all their intense musical feelings while, at the same time, preserving the essence of guaracha. Guarachas were played and sung in musical theatres and working class dance salons during the late 19th and early 20th century. The ensemble’s cultural and artistic objective is to uplift the female voice within Afro-Latin music and build a more inclusive, diverse, and respectful cultural space for all.

With improvisation on each instrument as its driving force, Las Gauracheras evoke the sound of the great sextets of history. The vibraphone has a special place in the band, since the women have long been fascinated by its legacy and wanted to incorporate it into an updated version of salsa. Las Guaracheras embody the best and most visionary female orchestras of Caleña and Colombian salsa. Above all, the cultural and artistic objective of the ensemble is to elevate the female voice in Afro-Latin music and thus build a more inclusive, diverse and respectful cultural space where we all fit.