Guachinangos Bring Energy to the Living Tradition of Son Jarocho! This seven-piece ensemble blends the music of Veracruz with cumbia, Colombian champeta, rock and contemporary influences and will bring its exuberant live sound to the 2026 Brooklyn Folk Fest.
There is a difference between preserving a musical tradition and keeping it alive. For the band Guachinangos, the two ideas go hand in hand. The ensemble draws from son jarocho, the vibrant musical tradition rooted in Veracruz, Mexico, while allowing its sound to expand into cumbia, Colombian champeta, rock and other influences. The result is music that honors its roots, treating tradition with care and respect while bringing it to new audiences and new sounds. Led by vocalist, jarana player and master requinto player Juan Carlos Marin alongside violinist and vocalist Gabriella Grimaldi, Guachinangos brings together musicians whose backgrounds span formal conservatory training, folk traditions and multiple generations and cultures. Their performances move from intricate traditional string work to electric guitar, percussion and dance, creating an atmosphere that feels as much like a communal celebration as a concert.
That spirit will be on display when Guachinangos performs at the 2026 Brooklyn Folk Fest, November 6-8, bringing their spirited interpretation of son jarocho to one of New York City’s most celebrated gatherings of roots and traditional music. At the heart of Guachinangos’ music is the understanding that son jarocho itself is not static. Its practitioners continue to develop the tradition in Veracruz, Mexico City, New York and elsewhere, passing musical knowledge between generations while allowing new voices to enter the conversation.
Guachinangos approaches that evolution through an expansive instrumental collection. Alongside jarana, requinto and violin are bass, drums, piano, electric guitar, maracas, tambora, tambor alegre and quijada, as well as the percussive footwork known as zapateado, performed on a wooden platform. The band’s arrangements have also been shaped by the experience of playing together for years. Beyond reproducing a version of Veracruz son jarocho, Guachinangos absorbs their surroundings, collaborators and individual musical backgrounds to all become part of the sound.
That philosophy is particularly evident on the band’s debut album, “Guachinangos, Vol. 1,” where centuries-old material sits alongside newer compositions and newly imagined arrangements that move through time. “Conga del Gavilan,” for example, began with verses uncovered in Veracruz archives before Veracruz musician Patricio Hidalgo of Afrojarocho set them to music. Elsewhere, Guachinangos revisit “Chuchumbé,” a song historically associated with resistance to religious hypocrisy and restrictions on dancing during the Inquisition. The band gives the piece a contemporary perspective, including new lyrics and a champeta-inspired rhythmic treatment. The group also turns to contemporary son jarocho artists for new contributions. Fernando Guadarrama of the GRAMMY-nominated Conga Patria Son Jarocho Collective and Sinuhé Padilla of Jarana Beat provide original lyrics for “La Morena” and appear vocally on the recording.
“Café Café” demonstrates another side of the group’s musical vocabulary, combining electric guitar with a Colombian cumbia rhythm section. The song, written by Gabriel Guzmán, formerly of Radio Jarocho, is one of two modern compositions Guzmán contributes to the album. His “El Deseo,” which Radio Jarocho previously performed at the Kennedy Center, receives its first studio recording here, with Marin’s requinto and jarana surrounded by the band’s layered vocal harmonies.
But experimentation doesn’t mean abandoning the tradition that provides the foundation. The album’s closing track, “La Morena,” perhaps best captures that connection between history and the present. The song dates back at least two centuries in Veracruz and remains part of fandangos and the repertoire of jaraneros around the world. Guachinangos’ recording features zapateado by Julia del Palacio of Radio Jarocho, adding another physical dimension to the performance. The album also makes room for “Dios Nunca Muere,” a deeply affecting waltz written by Oaxacan violinist Macedonio Alcalá in the mid-19th century. Its meditation on faith and loss provides a striking emotional counterpoint to the album’s more rhythmically charged selections.
For Guachinangos, keeping a tradition alive also means making sure the next generation has an opportunity to connect with it. The band works with migrant communities in New York and Philadelphia to provide free music classes for Latinx youth. Through those programs, the musicians hope to encourage confidence and self-expression while helping young people build stronger connections to their communities, heritage and cultural identity. Their belief is that tradition isn’t something that needs to be placed behind glass. It can be learned, shared, adapted and celebrated. And when Guachinangos take the stage at the Brooklyn Folk Fest, November 6-8, audiences can expect that philosophy to come through in the music: a meeting of Veracruz tradition and New York City energy, built around strings, percussion, voices, movement and the communal joy of playing together.
Click here to watch Guachinangos perform “El Deseo” on YouTube.
Written by Gayle Sib.
Photos courtesy of Guachinangos. Feature group photo by Jennifer Strickland for the Barnes Museum. Group photo by Camila Vinasco and stage photo by Colibri Workshop.
