ABOUT ENCUENTRO NYC
ENCUENTRO NYC unites New York City’s Colombian talent every year presenting nearly 60 musicians on one stage. Founded in 2003 by Colombian pianist, composer and bandleader Pablo Mayor, the festival celebrates the richness of the traditions of Colombian music, while at the same time supporting the innovations and developments of these traditions. Past artists have featured special guests Totó la Momposina, Plectro Trio, and such local artists as MAKU SoundSystem, Edmar Castañeda, Lucía Pulido, Marta Gómez, Samuel Torres, Hector Martignon, Pablo Mayor’s Folklore Urbano Orchestra, Gregorio Uribe Big Band, Grupo Chonta, Grupo Rebolú, Sebastián Cruz, Alejandro Flórez, La Cumbiamba ENeYe, Johanna Castaneda y su Grupo Llanero, Ricardo Gallo, and Chia’s Dance Party, among others. A grass-roots production of the husband/wife duo, musicians Pablo and Anna Mayor, ENCUENTRO NYC’s broader mission is to promote Colombian culture in the U.S.A., positively transforming the external face of Colombia through the voices of its artists young and old.

featured ENCUENTRO NYC artists:
 
Andrea Tierra: singer and poet
 
Gregorio Uribe: vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, leader of the Gregorio Uribe Big Band
 
Martin Vejarano: gaitero and drummer of Chia’s Dance Party and La Cumbiamba eNeYe
 
>Daniel Fetecua Soto (with Ryoko Kudo): dancer and choreographer, current member of the Limon dance company, director of his own Pajarillo Pinta’o Colombian modern and traditional dance company
 
Sebastián Cruz: guitarist and composer, known for his work with Colombian vocalist Lucía Pulido and his own project the Cheap Landscape Trio.
 
Juan Ospina and Camilo Rodriguez: gaiteros and multi-instrumentalists, members of wildly popular MAKU Soundsystem
 
Alejandro Flórez: Guitarist and composer of his original contemporary Andean project Tibaguí
 
Diego Obregon: marimba de chonta player and multi-instrumentalist from Colombia’s Pacific coast, leader of Grupo Chonta
 
Nilko Andreas Guarin: Classical guitarist virtuoso
 
Alejandro Zuleta: Vallenato pianist, singer, composer, and producer
 
Ronald Polo: leader of Grupo Rebolú
 
Johanna Castañeda: llanero singer and cuatro player, vocalist Grupo Rebolú
 
members of ORQUESTA BROADWAY: including percussionist Danny Gonzalez, vocalist Ronni Baro, violinists Ali Bello and Eddy Venegas, vocalist JorgeMaldonado

ARTURO O’FARRILL, pianist, composer, educator, and founder and Artistic Director of the nonprofit Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. In 2002, Mr. O’Farrill created the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) for Jazz at Lincoln Center due in part to a large and very demanding body of substantial music in the genre of Latin and Afro Cuban Jazz that deserves to be much more widely appreciated and experienced by the general jazz audience. His debut album with the Orchestra, Una Noche Inolvidable, earned a GRAMMY Award nomination in 2006 and the Orchestra’s second album, Song for Chico, earned a GRAMMY Award for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2009. In February 2011, Mr. O’Farrill and the ALJO released their third and newest album, 40 Acres and a Burro, which was nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. He is the winner of the Latin Jazz USA Outstanding Achievement Award for 2003.
 
continue reading at arturoofarrill.com…
 
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Eddy Zervigón, the flautist and founding leader of Orquesta Broadway plays a 5 keyed wooden flute commonly referred to as the ‘French flute.’ He was born in Güines, a Cuban town located nearly 30 miles southeast of Havana. In 1962, he and his brothers left Cuba for Miami where they spent a few months before coming to New York. Upon his arrival in the city, Mr. Zervigón work in the bands of Lou Pérez, Johnny Pacheco, Alfredo Valdés Sr. and Arsenio Rodríguez before the birth of Orquesta Broadway. He has been featured in countless recordings by a very diverse group of artist. Mr. Zervigón was also featured for many years as a guest soloist with Manny Oquendo’s Libre and pianist Eddie Palmieri’s group.
 
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Orquesta Broadway made its recording debut for the Gema label in 1963 on an album entitled Dengue that packed ‘Como camina María,’ the band’s first hit. The following albums Arrimate Pa’ Ca and Tiqui-Tiqui–on the Musicor label–solidified their popularity as one of New York’s top bands and catapulted the aggregation onto the international scene. As a result, the band traveled for the first time outside the US to Caracas, Venezuela in 1967. Soon, visits to Africa, Europe and South America followed. In 1973, Orquesta Broadway performed in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal as well as in France.
 
In 1982, while in Cali, Colombia, Orquesta Broadway was declared ‘La mejor de la Feria’ during the celebration of Cali’s ‘XXV Feria de la Caña de Azucar.’ The award was just one more on the list of accolades received by the group in recognition of its professionalism and high performance quality.
 
The band still continues touring abroad bringing the exciting sounds of Afro Cuban music to the ears of discriminating dancers all over the world. Most recently, in November 12, 2011, Orquesta Broadway performed at the annual World Athletics Gala of The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) at the Salle des Etoiles of the Sporting Club d’Eté in the Principality of Monaco–thus becoming the second Latin band, after Cuba’s Orquesta Aragón in 2007, to be chosen to play at such prestigious affair.

The Lincoln Centerin New York City hosted the 50th anniversary on June 30 2012 .Most rescently, Orquesta Broadway was the over all winner of the covoted “Congo de Oro ” award given during carnival in Barranquilla Colombia on February 2013

Born in Puerto Rico, Louis Bauzo attended Julliard School of Music and studied in Africa, Puerto Rico and Cuba. He has been a professional musician for over thirty years. A member of the Tito Puente Orchestra for seven years during the 1970’s, he has performed and/or recorded with Dizzy GIllespie, Machito, Mario Bauza, Eddie Palmieri, Mongo Santamaria, Johnny Pacheco, Larry Harlow, Celia Cruz, Cachao, Paul Simon, Manhattan Transfer, Joe Jackson, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Babatunde Olatunji, Ladji Camara, Katherine Dunham and the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, among others.
 
He has extensive experience in theatre, film and television; Arthur Penn’s “Night Moves”, Leon Ichaso’s “Crossover Dreams”, Ang Lee’s “Eat, Drink, Man, Woman”, “Kojak” and “Private Eye.”Recognized as an expert in the performance of Afro-Caribbean ritual music, he is also the founder and Director of the “Patakin” and”Carambu” folkloric dance ensembles which performed as part of Caribbean Cultural Center’s “Sacred Drums” Festival Tour (1991).
 
Louis is the director of the the Latin Percussion Department as well as the Harbor Stage Band and curator of the “Raices Project” (an archival chapter in the history of Latin music) at the Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts in New York. In addition to playing Advanced Folkloric Music, he is also a gifted arranger and educator.

Was born in 1978, in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. Since his move to the United States in 1994, Edmar has quite literally taken New York and the world stage by storm with the sheer force of his virtuosic command of the harp—revolutionizing the way audiences and critics alike consider an instrument commonly relegated to the “unusual category”. A master at realizing beautiful complexities of time, while skillfully drawing out lush colors and dynamic spirit, The legendary Paquito D’Rivera, Edmar’s frequent collaborator, has remarked:
 
“Edmar is…an enormous talent, he has the versatility and the enchanting charisma of a musician who has taken his harp out of the shadow to become one of the most original musicians from the Big Apple.”
 
Even now, on stages across the globe, one notes how Edmar’s body seemingly engulfs his Colombian harp as he crafts almost unbelievable feats of cross-rhythms, layered with chordal nuances rivaling the most celebrated flamenco guitarist’s efforts.
 
Edmar’s latest recording “Double Portion,” (which features Miguel Zenon, Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Hamilton de Holanda on Mandolina) has caught the attention of reviewers and his legion of fans. Rob Young of “Urban Flux Magazine” says of the recording, “Edmar Castaneda’s caliber redefines depth, skill and emotion.”
 
In addition to his acclaimed performing career as an instrumentalist, which has included features at D’Rivera’s Carnegie Hall tribute, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, the 10th annual World Harp Congress, he has also play with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, John Scofield, Marcos Miller, John Patitucci, Chico O’Farrill ‘s Afro-Cuban Jazz Big Band and Edmar Castaneda has gained recognition as a composer.

Pablo Mayor-Folklore Urbano Orchestra official site

Pablo Mayor, whose powerhouse orchestra has redefined modern Colombian music in the last decade, will present repertoire from his latest “El Barrio Project,” a cross-cultural meeting of Cumbia and Salsa which takes his renowned Colombian band into the heart of Spanish Harlem and the birthplace of salsa—historically known as “El Barrio.” Weaving a theatrical narrative, the story presents a musical ensemble as a metaphor for a NYC community with its diverse mash-up of peoples, and the real-life relationships that develop. Pablo Mayor collaborates with other composers in this project, with theatrical direction by German Jaramillo of ID Studio Theater. The group will feature its latest vocalist, Colombian ALEA (Maria Alejandra Jiménez), and invited guests of NYC’s Latin elite: Danny Gonzalez on congas (a long-standing member of the Cuban establishment Orquesta Broadway), vocalist and songwriter “Chino” Melao (an icon in the historic era of NYC salsa) and multi-instrumentalist Eddie Venegas (Marc Anthony side-man, Orquesta Broadway) on vocals and violin.

The Folklore Urbano Orchestra is the premiere ensemble of Colombian bandleader, pianist, composer, and arranger Pablo Mayor. The group’s three highly-acclaimed CD’s, Aviso, Baile/Dance, and Corazón, have been broadcast throughout the World.

The super group collective of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance and FolkColombia Música y Danza, made up of many of the Encuentro NYC artists, showcasing the rich traditions of Colombia performed by the leaders of Colombian music in NYC.  The group will perform Colombian standards and originals by the group, a bailar!!!!