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Brandon based multicultural orchestra SON LATINO BAND performed at two of the most important cultural events of Manitoba on Saturday and Sunday at the Brandon Folk Music and Arts Festival on its Main Stage.

On August 2nd the band, lead by Costa Rican Brandon University International Student Jaime Chinchilla, will delight the Winnipeggers at the Folklorama as part of the Colombian Pavilion. This huge band is a amazing project including experienced musicians from El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Canada and Mexico, some of them working at industrial food processing facilities as part of their immigration process. Since formed during the summer of 2008, this group has had successful presentations at local venues in Brandon and Winnipeg, being recognized by the Latin community as the only band in town able to perform the complex Latin dancing rhythms.

Son Latino Band integrates musicians and styles from 5 different countries. Students, workers and community members, being an example of Canadian multiculturalism. The musical project is also an example of how the city of Brandon could create and support cultural community projects that include newcomers and how University can be involved in such a process. With its dancing music shows, Son Latino Band spices up the entertainment environment in Manitoba.
- Wheat City Journal, Thursday June, 30, 2009.

June 23, 2010

Son Latino Band will be the headliner this Saturday for the inaugural Brandon Multicultural Summer Festival.

The festival at Princess Park (Eighth Street and Princess Avenue) will feature a Salsa dance show, local dance groups, a dance contest, various invited bands and a sizzling performance by Son Latino Band.

The music runs from 4 to 10 p.m. and is free and open to all family members.

Also featured will be vendors and activities for kids.

Son Latino band Leader Jaime Chinchilla said that "the

event aims at promoting integration and cultural merging two goals that are present in all of our events.”

Helping festival organizers get the event off the ground have been a number of organizations, Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation, Rennaisance Brandon, Brandon Cultural Awareness Network, Community Futures Westman, Brandon Latina Women Association Inc., Westman Immigrant Services and Brandon Folk Music and Arts

Society.
- Wheat City Journal, Brandon, Manitoba.

Costa Rican native Jaime Chinchilla Solano is not only pursuing graduate studies in piano at Brandon University, he is also on a mission.

His aim is to not only bring Latin music to this community, but to create a group that reflects the multiculturalism that now exists here.

With that end in mind, he and fellow music student Ryan Zwingerman established a new 20-piece music group, Son Latino Band, in which they are joined by Canadian, Columbian, Mexican and Salvadoran musicians.

"When immigrants come to another country looking for a better future, they have to work as many hours as they can," he said. "That is why this is very important to me because it is giving the opportunity to all of them to become a human being again for a little while during the weekends and not part of a production (line) as they are most of the time during weekdays."

Rehearsals have been difficult to arrange as the shift schedules of some of the Latin American musicians have to be juggled with the musicians' classes.

However, the love of music transcends all barriers, and though verbal communication has been a bit of a problem, the musicians are teaching each other phrases as well as sharing food that is traditional to their culture during the three-hour weekly rehearsals.

"It's turning out to be very interesting because some of the Canadian players are doing jazz at the school. So, in some of the pieces, we try to mix this and that. We'll have Latin rhythms and they'll improvise with their jazz knowledge," said Solano, the band's keyboardist and leader. "We have also a guitar player, who's played with many bands.

His name is Joe Stamper and he brings the rock style to the band. So, it's an interesting mix."

Since the band's inception this past summer, several instruments that are integral to the Latin sound had to be ordered, and now that they have finally arrived, the group will be performing in the community.

Trombones, saxophones, and trumpets join keyboards, percussion - drums, congas, maracas, timbales - bass and guitar, the usual complement of instruments backing up vocalists in this type of band.

"Our music is probably the more important part of the Latin culture that identifies its members. We play this music all the time in our countries," said Solano. "All Latin American countries speak the same language in terms of popular music."

With its particular combination of Latin, jazz and rock idioms, Son Latino Band will entertain at The 40 on Saturday night.

Copyright The Brandon Sun Oct 17, 2008
Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.



- The Brandon Sun Oct 17, 2008

The Sounds of Son Latino
During the summer of 2008 a group of musicians gathered informally to play the
music of the Latin American countries they had come from. They had several jamming
sessions when it was decided that they should start a band. They began to
bring instruments to the home of Jaime Chinchilla. Their numbers grew and the
only place for them to practise was outside. After a time the neighbors phoned the
police and then they found themselves looking for a new place to practise.
Enter Joe Stamper whose wife invited them to practise on their acreage near Shilo.
Joe is a musician who played mostly Rock and Roll, Big Band including Jazz and
Swing Style music. He would help Son Latino set up and get ready for rehearsals.
Eventually he began to sit in on the practises and has since become a member
of the band. Although he had travelled in Latin America and loved the music, Joe
never dreamed he’d be playing it himself. “If anyone had said I’d be playing in a
Latin American band in Brandon Manitoba, I wouldn’t have believed them!”
Son Latino has been gaining fame in Brandon since it’s inception. They were
warmly received at the Brandon Folk Festival with their massive 20 member
group. Their performance is full and energetic encouraging people to get up and
dance. Many of the members are immigrants, originally from Columbia, El Salvador,
Costa Rica, or Mexico. Others are Canadian, most school of music students
from Brandon University.
Soraya Martell from El Salvador is has been with the group for about three months. She
is a singer and also performs the smaller percussion instruments. She is a single
mother to four children ages 15, 12, 8 and 5. She worlds as a health care aide and
in the laundry at a nursing home. And in her free time she practises and performs
with Son Latino. “It is important to me because it is our music, this is a way for
us to enjoy our music. We feel our countries when we’re playing.” On the day of
the interview Soraya worked until four, went home quickly to change and check
on the kids and arrived for a 4:30 practise. Although she was nervous the first time
she performed, the next time it was a bit easier. “Every body is supportive. I have
many friends.”
Soraya’s children love the music too. She bought a drum for them to play and her
daughters sing along with her when she practises. Her son sings too, “but different
music.” They are interested in learning to play instruments and to play music.
Soraya enjoys how connected the group is. “This is how we can share our music
with the community. To share our music and see peoples faces happy, it makes me
proud of the job we’re doing. My kids are proud too.”
Carlos Silva (with translation from Marco Martell) from Columbia has two children
who he hopes will join him in April. He has waited almost two years to see his
family. He began playing percussion with Son Latino a year and a half ago. He
loves to play music. “We have it in our blood.” He is excited to bring new musical
culture to Brandon and to show Westman their music and culture. He enjoys
being part of the band because leader, Jaime, is responsible and organized and on
time. The focus is on concentrating and creating a good show.
Carlos has played since he was a child. His grandfather was a musician and his
family are all musical people. He wants his children to learn to play Latin American
music. His son wants to play the tambalas He is learning to play the guitar.
Carlos stays in contact with his family over the internet with a webcam all the
time. He looks forward to having his children see him perform with Son Latino as
they’ve never seen him in concert before because in Columbia the venues were too
crowded, too many people.
With various hopes and dreams for Son Latino, the members all agree that they
are loving working together and performing Latin American music in the Westman
Area. They look forward to the expanding their concert venues and perhaps some
day recording. In the meantime they vow to keep the dance music going! - Westman Parent, February 2010

Por Ginella Diaz Torrecilla | amlat@rcinet.ca
Domingo 7 diciembre, 2014 , 2 Comentarios ↓

Brandon es la segunda ciudad en importancia de la provincia canadiense de Manitoba. Allí, en el suroeste del país, también hay una gran comunidad de latinoamericanos. No es sorprendente que a estos latinoamericanos, ¡también les guste bailar!

En respuesta a esta necesidad, surgió, en 2008, Son Latino Band, una agrupación que integra músicos, tanto canadienses como latinoamericanos, para ofrecer a los bailadores del oeste canadiense una opción movida y un producto local, resultado de un “sincretismo cultural”.

¿Le parece increíble la mezcla entre el chachachá y el funk? El grupo Son Latino Band logró la proeza con su tema “CocoFunk”. Y eso no es todo… Su más reciente álbum homónimo, lanzado en el invierno de 2014, contiene más de estas mezclas entre el norte y el sur.

De origen costarricense, Jaime Chichilla, director musical, percusionista y pianista de la agrupación, llegó a la ciudad de Brandon, en 2006, para continuar sus estudios de piano. Poco a poco fue conociendo mejor la comunidad latinoamericana de Brandon y se percató de que una de sus necesidades era justamente la música. Buena noticia: él es músico y, gracias a sus estudios, fue conociendo a otros músicos. Resultado: surge Son Latino Band.

En esta entrevista, Jaime nos habla del repertorio del grupo, de las influencias canadienses y de la fascinación que ejerce la música latina en los canadienses. - Radio Canada International. December 7, 2014.

Brandon, MB might seem like a world away from Latin America geographically speaking, though the two are more closely linked than one might think.

The Son Latino Band was formed from the influx of Latin-American immigrants to the prairie city. Comprised of 11 musicians hailing from five different countries, the group skillfully combines Latin rhythms and dance beats with the improvisational nature of jazz.

Their high-energy live performances are delivered by three vocalists, a keyboardist, a bass player, a traditional three-piece percussion section, and a six-piece horn section. Their mix of salsa, merengue, cumbia, raspa, mambo, cha cha cha, and Bolero music has earned them stage slots at the TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival, the Regina Latin Festival, and the Brandon Folk Festival.

The Son Latino Band plays original music as well as a collection of well-known Latin American standards in a big band style. Their songs are sung in both Spanish and English and touch on a variety of universal topics including love and immigration in addition to every day life in Manitoba. - Canadian Musician Magazine. December 2014