Summer in Boston usually abounds with opportunities to hear live music that draws on new and old traditions from across Latin America. The future of some of these opportunities is uncertain. Many of them are presented by nonprofit arts groups grappling with federal funding cuts and clawbacks. And for events that are programmed for immigrant communities, there’s the question of whether attendees and organizers are ready for large-scale gatherings. The answer to that also seems to be mixed.
Brazilian celebrations, including the ones that typically draw large crowds to celebrate the Festa Junina, were canceled this month from Somerville to Martha’s Vineyard. Yet paid concerts in recent weeks by the likes of Mexican American migrant balladeers Los Tigres del Norte, Brazilian superstar Luísa Sonza, and Mexican singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade all drew capacity houses. Other community events like the Carnaval dia del Salvadoreño en Boston (held in Revere) and the Brazilian Festival of Worcester are moving forward. But while the future may be far from clear, one thing is certain: There are no shortages of Latin music events happening this summer in Greater Boston. Here are just a few of them.
July 10-Aug. 14
This floating music festival presents free Latin acts on Thursday nights courtesy of Berklee College of Music (which sponsors 200 free summer concerts), Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción and the City of Boston. The locations may vary, but the two constants are top-notch bands and some serious dancers in attendance. Among this summer’s highlights are the accomplished Cuban singer-songwriter Barbara Zamora Vargas (July 10, O’Day Playground) and Kristalis y Las Nenas del Swing, a mostly female aggregation led by master flutist Kristalis Sotomayor whose members hail from six different countries (July 31, Mission Hill Playground).
July 10
The Mexican state of Veracruz has a multitude of rich musical traditions, especially the string instrument sounds of son jarocho and son huasteco. Now based in New York, the Veracruz-bred Villalobos Brothers are a high-octane, triple-fiddle threat who have effectively brought in influences that range from rock to classical without ever losing their musical identity. They perform as part of the MFA’s Concerts in the Courtyard series, which also includes Afro-Cuban percussion giant Pedrito Martínez Aug. 21.
Los Mirlos
Oceanside Events Center, Revere
July 12
In the early 1970s, Los Mirlos — a band from Peru’s Amazon rainforest — started playing chicha music that mixed the traditional cumbia rhythm with a psychedelic guitar and organ sound that echoed surf music. They became massive stars all across Latin America and influenced several generations of Latin musicians. Today, cumbia music is as popular as ever and Los Mirlos have reformed as a family band led by its original lead singer Jorge Rodríguez Grández. They recently became the first Peruvian band to play Coachella.
Ala Jaza
Malayas Nightclub, Lawrence
July 18
Dominican artist Ala Jaza has earned millions of streams and video views by melding reggaeton with infectious merengue and bachata rhythms. Last year, he collaborated with superstar Prince Royce, and now he’s back on tour with a show full of his own hits.
July 19
Over the years, this free daylong celebration of all things Boricua has earned a reputation for always bringing top-shelf entertainment to the plaza outside the Villa Victoria in the South End. This year is no exception. Headliner Bobby Valentín is known as “El Rey del Bajo” for his longtime tenure as the bassist with the iconic Fania All-Stars, and the festival also offers a rare local chance to see Orquesta El Macabeo, a Puerto Rican salsa outfit known for their punk sensibility and musical pranks. There will also be Puerto Rican food, children’s activities, and a parade. If you’re seeking even more Puerto Rican culture, there’s plenty to be found at the Puerto Rican Festival of Massachusetts at Franklin Park. The fest runs July 26-27 with the famed parade on day two.
July 20
Although the wide-ranging alt-Latino sound has been a favorite of both critics and audiences for many years, it’s taken a bit longer to catch on in the Boston live music scene, where more traditional dance and folkloric Latin music styles are likely to be heard. That’s why the emergence of the band FM Collective has been so important. Equally inspired by reggaeton, funk, conscious hip-hop and experimental rock, the group features the considerable talents of Peruvian vocalist Marcelo Trisano, Argentine drummer Augusto Bussio and guitarist Alejo Topet, Turkish keyboardist Cenk Esen and American-born vocalist Jacob Kohlman. The band’s extremely busy summer schedule shows how they’ve been embraced by local fans and series curators. It also includes the Essex Art Center in Lawrence on July 12, and an intimate duo set at the new KioSK Cambridge July 19. The band will also provide a Latin tinge to the Evolution of Hip-Hop Festival in Somerville on Aug. 23.
July 25-27
Lowell’s annual free celebration of music and food always proves how exciting and fun traditional music can be. A large dose of that excitement usually comes from its Latin acts, and this year offers a double dose. Colombian Yeison Landero was truly born into cumbia – his grandfather, Andrés Landero, was called “el rey de la cumbia,” the king of cumbia. Today, Landero leads one of the hottest touring cumbia acts on the global music circuit. Edwin Perez y Su Orquesta will represent the Nuyorican sound of “salsa dura” (hard salsa). Perez was the lead singer of two of the great salsa dura bands of the early 20th century, La Excelencia and Orquesta SCC — both of whom played prior editions of the Lowell Folk Festival — before starting his solo project in 2017.
Thursdays
While summer provides a chance for Boston’s Latin bands to play outside, it’s also worth remembering that there are venues that these musicians work at all year round. One is La Fabrica in Central Square, and another is the free Thursday night series at Long Live Beerworks in Roxbury, which has focused heavily on Latin jazz since its inception. Among its highlights this summer are the salsa and Afro-Cuban jazz sounds of Grupo Gozarsa July 10 and a band led by the phenomenal Venezuelan trombonist Angel Subero July 31.
Saturdays through October
Perhaps the most prominently placed music stage in town, the Uncommon Corner offers free performances multiple times a week inside a beer garden right on Boston Common (near the Boylston MBTA station). Among the curators are Ágora Cultural Architects, who are programming Latin music every Saturday through October. Next up on July 12 is the exciting and versatile percussionist Manolo Mairena followed by another opportunity to catch Bárbara Zamora, this time singing classic Cuban ballads with her Bolero & Filin Trio.
Speaking of Ágora (and beer), the organization is also collaborating with Boston’s first Latino-owned brewery, Roundhead, for a series of shows at Roundhead pop-up beer garden locations throughout the area. One highlight will be on Aug. 16 when recent Boston arrival Georgie Rodriguez, a noted Puerto Rican bassist, guitarist, and arranger (and one-third of Trío Jazz Caribe), performs at the Jamaica Pond location.
July 28
While it gets scant attention, one of the great, vibrant American musical traditions is that of New Mexican music, a blend of European, Indigenous and Mexican sounds. Lone Piñon are a string band with a bilingual repertoire devoted to preserving the New Mexican orquesta típica sound of violins, accordion, guitars and the vihuela, the guitar/lute hybrid often found in Mariachi bands.
