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Son Rompe Pera: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

For the second consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2021 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts.


Born and raised in the deep outskirts of Mexico City, the three Gama brothers are keeping alive the rich legacy of marimba music running through their family. Originally performing alongside their father at local events as kids, they now find themselves at the forefront of the contemporary international cumbia scene with their sonic explorations of the classic marimba.

From the Salón Los Ángeles in Mexico City, this quintet urges listeners to their feet with their unique style of garage-marimba-cumbia rock, played on the historic marimba like no one has ever heard or seen before. --The globalFEST staff

SET LIST

  • "La Tortuga del Arenal"
  • "Cumbia Pa' Tu Madre"
  • "Proteus"
  • "Ay David!"
  • "Los Chucos Suaves"
  • MUSICIANS

  • Mongo: marimba, vocals
  • Kacho: marimba, vocals
  • Kilos: marimba, vocals
  • Ritchie: drums
  • Raul: bass, vocals
  • Gil Gutierrez: guest performer, guitar
  • Macha: guest performer, vocals
  • CREDITS

  • Production: Timothy Bisig, Nicolas Segovia Becerril
  • Audio: Oscar Garcia, Eduardo Morales, Pablo García Aguilar
  • Video: Abraham Damian Estrada Cruz, Pablo Cavia
  • Special thanks: Miguel Nieto, The Staff of the Salón Los Ángeles

  • Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST

    Tiny Desk Team

    Producer: Bob Boilen

    Video Producer: Maia Stern

    Audio Mixing: Josh Rogosin

    Tiny Production Team: Bobby Carter, Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant, Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis

    Executive Producer: Keith Jenkins

    Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

    globalFEST Artistic Team

    Co-Directors: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, Bill Bragin

    2022 Curators: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, Bill Bragin, Gabrielle Davenport

    globalFEST Production Team

    Event Producer: Ian Thake

    Producer: THE OFFICE performing arts + film*

    Video Producer: Karim Tabbaa

    Special Thanks

    The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, JanArtsNYC, Valerie French (social media), Yuri Kwon of Pitch Perfect PR (publicity), Tamizdat (legal services) and Duane Morris (legal services)

    *THE OFFICE performing arts + film consists of Rachel Chanoff, Laurie Cearley, Olli Chanoff, Erica Zielinski, Nadine Goellner, Lynn Koek, Noah Bashevkin, Catherine DeGennaro, Gabrielle Davenport, Chloe Golding, Kyla Gardner, Tess Peppis, Zion Jackson, Scout Eisenberg and Jose Alvarado

    Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

    In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.