Combo Chimbita Marries Psychedelic Funk and Afro-Caribbean-Latinx Trance

Combo Chimbita, a quartet of first-generation New Yorkers from Colombia, have tapped into the rawness of New York punk as well as the Afro-futurism of Sun Ra, as they marry musical styles from Latin America and the Caribbean along the way with music that is sure to incite dance parties. Grittily channeling the ancestors, the band “draws from traditional music of everywhere,” according to guitarist Niño Lento. Although their backgrounds are in heavy rock, metal, and psychedelic funk and soul, they gleefully fuse elements from cumbia, 70s funaná from Cape Verde, kompa from Haiti as well as salsa & reggae, mixing the Guacharaca (the scrapey backbone percussion of cumbia) and futuristic-yet-retro synth sounds. They’ve just put out their first full-length record, Abya Yala, and it brings Combo Chimbita to our studios.  -Caryn Havlik