Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto con Fruko y Carmelo Torres present Madrecumbia
THREE COLOMBIAN LEGENDS ON ONE STAGE
MADRE CUMBIA is a historic 2026 collaboration between Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, Fruko, and Carmelo Torres — a project that brings together the ancestral custodians of Colombia's oldest cumbia traditions, the architect of modern tropical music, and one of the country's greatest living accordionists. It reframes cumbia not as a single style but as a living continuum stretching from Indigenous flutes and African drums to the electric bass lines that would later travel across Latin America.
MADRE CUMBIA es una colaboración histórica de 2026 entre Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, Fruko y Carmelo Torres: un proyecto que reúne a los guardianes ancestrales de las tradiciones de cumbia más antiguas de Colombia, al arquitecto de la música tropical moderna y a uno de los mejores acordeonistas vivos del país. Esta obra replantea la cumbia no como un estilo único, sino como un continuo vivo que se extiende desde las flautas indígenas y los tambores africanos hasta las líneas de bajo eléctrico que más tarde recorrerían toda América Latina.
"The authentic masters of traditional Colombian music." — The New Yorker
The Latin Grammy winning Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto have been the anchor of old school cumbia traditions since the 1940s. Formed in the town of San Jacinto in the Colombian Department of Bolívar, the ensemble preserves the ancestral dialogue between gaita flutes, drums, and voice.
Julio 'Fruko' Estrada Rincón is the electrified counterweight in the trio. Often described as the Quincy Jones of Colombia, Fruko served as the visionary producer behind the golden era of Discos Fuentes, helping define modern tropical music through groundbreaking recordings with Fruko y Sus Tesos, La Sonora Dinamita, Wganda Kenya, Afrosound, Joe Arroyo, Wilson 'Saoko' Manyoma, and many others. His bass playing, arrangements, and production reshaped Colombian salsa and cumbia and influenced generations of musicians throughout Latin America.
Carmelo Torres is the third pillar — the living legacy of cumbia sabanera, the rural accordion style of Colombia's Caribbean sabanas. A direct pupil of the legendary 'King of Cumbia' Andrés Landero, Torres vowed after Landero's 2000 death to keep the savannah rhythms alive; in 2006, tropicalista Mario Galeano of Frente Cumbiero sought him out to record with Los Toscos, introducing his raw roots cumbia to a new generation. Widely regarded as one of the last great acordeonistas gruesos, Torres played the role of Francisco el Hombre — the accordionist who defeats the devil in a musical duel — in Episode 4 of Netflix's One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Together on Madre Cumbia, these artists embody nearly every chapter of cumbia's recorded history — from its ceremonial Afro-Indigenous origins and rural accordion traditions to its electrification, international expansion, and enduring legacy.
DJ Bongohead will be on the 1s and 2s before and after the performance.
@ De La Luz
114 Race St., Holyoke MA
TICKETS: $30 ADV / $35 DOOR
🎟️: https://delaluz.org/events/madre-cumbia/
This show is made possible with support from the Pioneer Valley Cannabis Company, Davis Financial, and the Holyoke Cultural Council.
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Secret Planet is a community-supported music series (like a farm share) bringing underground int'l artists to our stages. Learn more at www.secretplanet.live.
MADRE CUMBIA is a historic 2026 collaboration between Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, Fruko, and Carmelo Torres — a project that brings together the ancestral custodians of Colombia's oldest cumbia traditions, the architect of modern tropical music, and one of the country's greatest living accordionists. It reframes cumbia not as a single style but as a living continuum stretching from Indigenous flutes and African drums to the electric bass lines that would later travel across Latin America.
MADRE CUMBIA es una colaboración histórica de 2026 entre Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, Fruko y Carmelo Torres: un proyecto que reúne a los guardianes ancestrales de las tradiciones de cumbia más antiguas de Colombia, al arquitecto de la música tropical moderna y a uno de los mejores acordeonistas vivos del país. Esta obra replantea la cumbia no como un estilo único, sino como un continuo vivo que se extiende desde las flautas indígenas y los tambores africanos hasta las líneas de bajo eléctrico que más tarde recorrerían toda América Latina.
"The authentic masters of traditional Colombian music." — The New Yorker
The Latin Grammy winning Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto have been the anchor of old school cumbia traditions since the 1940s. Formed in the town of San Jacinto in the Colombian Department of Bolívar, the ensemble preserves the ancestral dialogue between gaita flutes, drums, and voice.
Julio 'Fruko' Estrada Rincón is the electrified counterweight in the trio. Often described as the Quincy Jones of Colombia, Fruko served as the visionary producer behind the golden era of Discos Fuentes, helping define modern tropical music through groundbreaking recordings with Fruko y Sus Tesos, La Sonora Dinamita, Wganda Kenya, Afrosound, Joe Arroyo, Wilson 'Saoko' Manyoma, and many others. His bass playing, arrangements, and production reshaped Colombian salsa and cumbia and influenced generations of musicians throughout Latin America.
Carmelo Torres is the third pillar — the living legacy of cumbia sabanera, the rural accordion style of Colombia's Caribbean sabanas. A direct pupil of the legendary 'King of Cumbia' Andrés Landero, Torres vowed after Landero's 2000 death to keep the savannah rhythms alive; in 2006, tropicalista Mario Galeano of Frente Cumbiero sought him out to record with Los Toscos, introducing his raw roots cumbia to a new generation. Widely regarded as one of the last great acordeonistas gruesos, Torres played the role of Francisco el Hombre — the accordionist who defeats the devil in a musical duel — in Episode 4 of Netflix's One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Together on Madre Cumbia, these artists embody nearly every chapter of cumbia's recorded history — from its ceremonial Afro-Indigenous origins and rural accordion traditions to its electrification, international expansion, and enduring legacy.
DJ Bongohead will be on the 1s and 2s before and after the performance.
@ De La Luz
114 Race St., Holyoke MA
TICKETS: $30 ADV / $35 DOOR
🎟️: https://delaluz.org/events/madre-cumbia/
This show is made possible with support from the Pioneer Valley Cannabis Company, Davis Financial, and the Holyoke Cultural Council.
++++++
Secret Planet is a community-supported music series (like a farm share) bringing underground int'l artists to our stages. Learn more at www.secretplanet.live.
Where is it happening?
De La Luz Soundstage, 114 Race St, Holyoke, MA 01040-5854, United States
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherSecret Planet, Western Mass
