After the featured ensemble for Viva el Arte de Santa Barbara’s season opener, Cimarrón, canceled its entire tour just weeks before its performance for Viva, the local nonprofit educational concert series had to scramble to find a replacement group. Instead the LA-based son jarocho group Cambalache is filling the three-day concert and outreach tour in Santa Barbara County.
Master luthier and lead singer César Castro is the maestro for Cambalache, which translates to “exchange.” Originally from Veracruz, Mexico, Castro and Cambalache have been at the forefront of the revival of son joracho, the regional folk style of Veracruz. The style combines indigenous Mexican music with African, Spanish, and Arabic influences.
The group will perform for local schoolchildren in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Isla Vista, and Guadalupe. Free family concerts open to the community are Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. at Isla Vista School, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Guadalupe City Hall, and Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Marjorie Luke Theatre in Santa Barbara.
More information about the Guadalupe concert is available at 343-2455. More information about Viva el Arte de Santa Barbara can be found at facebook.com/vivaelartesb.
This article appears in Sep 1-8, 2016.