La Sonora Santanera & La Sonora Dinamita in Phoenix

La Sonora Santanera is a Mexican tropical orchestra founded in Mexico City in 1955 by trumpeter Carlos Colorado. Its repertoire draws on cumbia, bolero, cha-cha-cha and other Caribbean dance styles, and the group is known for songs including “La Boa,” “Perfume de Gardenias,” “Luces de Nueva York” and “El Ladrón.” In 2015, La Sonora Santanera celebrated its 60th anniversary in Mexico City with a program featuring multiple singers and its brass-led ensemble. The anniversary concert brought that established tropical-orchestra format to Auditorio Nacional.

La Sonora Dinamita is a Colombian cumbia ensemble formed in Cartagena in 1960 by singer Lucho Argain. Its best-known recordings include “Se me perdió la cadenita,” “Mi cucú,” “El viejo del sombrerón” and “Escándalo,” songs that brought its brass-led tropical sound to audiences across Latin America. After its re-formation in 1975, La Sonora Dinamita performed beyond Colombia as its recordings found a particularly large audience in Mexico. The group later brought the same repertoire to Spanish-speaking communities in the United States. Concert performances feature multiple singers backed by brass, keyboards, bass and Afro-Caribbean percussion. The live repertoire draws heavily on recordings led by Lucho Argain.