The Los Angeles League of Musicians, LA LOM, are an instrumental trio formed in Los Angeles in 2021. They blend the sounds of Cumbia Sonidera, 60’s soul ballads and classic romantic boleros that emanate from radios, backyard parties and dance clubs of Los Angeles with the twang of Peruvian Chicha and Bakersfield Country.
Category: Global Music
Kokoroko
Fusing the sounds of jazz and Afrobeat, Kokoroko has developed a burgeoning reputation for their energetic, soul-shaking sound. Led by trumpeter Shelila Maurice-Grey and drummer Onome Edgeworth, the London-based septet was named “ones to watch” by the Guardian in 2019 after their song “Abusey Junction” racked up hundreds of millions of streams across Spotify, YouTube, and other streaming platforms. Since their inception almost six years ago, Kokoroko has played in clubs, theaters, and festivals around the world, including a set at Coachella in 2024. Their most recent release, a 15-minute, four-song extended play entitled “Get the Message,” released last November, explores the need for community, connection, and relationships.
Celebrate Ameri’KANA
Featuring Rubén Albarrán from Cafe Tacvba, Making Movies, and La Lulu
Founded by the Latin Grammy-nominated band Making Movies, Celebrate AMERI’KANA is a traveling festival celebrating the diverse colors of American music. Looking to redefine “Americana,” the festival highlights the crossroads of languages and rhythms that shape the musical identity of the Americas.
This year, the festival welcomes Rubén Albarrán, the legendary frontman of Café Tacvba and one of Latin America’s most influential and innovative artists. For over three decades, Rubén has shaped the sound of Latin rock, blending traditional Mexican music with alternative rock, electronic, and experimental styles—pushing artistic boundaries at every turn. With a voice Billboard calls “a multifaceted wonder,” Rubén has captivated audiences around the world, whether delivering a piercing ballad, an explosive punk chorus, or an electrifying DJ set.
Beyond his iconic work with Café Tacvba, Rubén has collaborated with artists like Calle 13, Natalia Lafourcade, Julieta Venegas, and Gustavo Santaolalla. Under his DJ moniker Pinche Pinchadiscos, he brings that same boundary-defying spirit to the dance floor, spinning global beats with the energy and theatricality that have defined his career. From massive festivals like Rock al Parque and Ruido Fest to sold-out club nights in Berlin and Bogotá, Rubén’s performances are celebrations of rhythm, resistance, and cultural pride.
Making Movies is a band based in the United States with a sound Rolling Stone describes as “an eclectic blend of rumbero percussions, delicate organs, and grungy fuzz rock.” Led by Panamanian singer/guitarist Enrique Chi, Mexican-American percussionist and keyboardist Juan-Carlos Chaurand, and drummer Duncan Burnett, the band rose to acclaim through a decade of relentless touring in the US and Latin America.
The band collaborated with Rubén Blades on the single “No Te Calles,” which NPR included in their Best of 2019 list and became the opening track of his album Paraiso Road Gang, nominated for Latin Grammy Album of the Year. They’ve also toured alongside Los Lobos, Ozomatli, Hurray For the Riff Raff, Thievery Corporation, and more.
La Lulu, a Latin Grammy-winning violinist, vocalist, and dancer whose explosive stage presence channels the soul of cumbia through a New York lens. Born in Cali, Colombia and raised in NYC, La Lulu fuses salsa, spanglish rhymes, and unapologetic energy into music that is both deeply rooted and fiercely contemporary.
Tarta Relena
Started in 2016 as an acapella project between Helena Ros and Marta Torrella, Tarta Relena’s electronic-accented folk reimagines the traditional music of the Mediterranean as a growing form unbound by precedent. At ArtPower, the Catalan folk duo will perform from their newly released album, És pregunta.
Cesária Évora Orchestra
A Tribute to the Barefoot Diva Tour
The Cesária Évora Orchestra brings together the cream of Cape-Verdean musicianship and vocalists to honor the late and legendary Cesária Évora. This tribute to the “Barefoot Diva” features some of Cape Verde’s greatest voices, including Elida Almeida, Teófilo Chantre, Lucibela, and Ceuzany, alongside band members from Évora’s band.
Anoushka Shankar Chapter III: We Return to Light
Chapter III…
Anoushka Shankar marks the culmination of her recent trilogy of mini-albums: ‘Chapter I: Forever, For Now,’ ‘Chapter II: How Dark it Is Before Dawn’ and ‘Chapter III: We Return to Light’ with a visionary new live show. Written and released back-to-back during two years of an experimental, creatively-charged global tour of an ever-evolving programme, the performance of each Chapter infused the composition of the next. After first exploring the transient, bittersweet joy of a summer afternoon on Chapter I and an immersion into a healing, womblike night on Chapter II, Chapter III completes the cycle, leading audiences through each movement and into the strong, golden heat of morning—a time of strength, wisdom and change.
With 30 years’ performance since her teenaged debut, eleven Grammy nominations and an Honorary Degree in Music from Oxford University under her belt, Anoushka has spent her career redefining the conventions of the sitar. Alongside an ensemble celebrated for their endless virtuosity, sensitivity and ear for improvisation, this show sees Anoushka expand the vocabulary of her sitar, looping and bending sound to create a bold new Indo-futurist vision for her music.
Forever, for now
How dark it is before dawn
We return to Light
Anoushka Shankar, sitar
Arun Ghosh, clarinet and keys
Tom Farmer, upright bass
Sarathy Korwar, drums and percussion
James Campbell and John Ducket, sound design
Eric Collignon, lighting design
Sessa
Vinyl DJ set by B+
Sessa is a long-time fixture of both the American and Brazilian music scenes. Initially known for collaborating with NY guitar legend Yonatan Gat and co-founding the São Paulo psych-funk combo Garotas Suecas, Sessa released his debut album, Grandeza, in 2019. In their review of the album, the New Yorker described Sessa as “a songwriter cut from Veloso’s mold and blessed with a flair for the intimate, the enigmatic, and the licentious.”
Sessa’s songs are sung in Portuguese, with visceral, sensual lyrics, and melodic flourishes not unlike those of Tom Jobim. However, the music gets a deliberate minimalist treatment rarely found in contemporary Brazilian music, more reminiscent of the bareness of Leonard Cohen.
Sessa’s concerts are already stuff of legend, as he takes the stage accompanied solely by a female backing choir and Afro-Brazilian percussion. While the songs often deal with subjects such as the sensual body and spiritual transcendence, the music points to new, more subtle directions for Brazilian pop music – a deep, minimalist, almost insinuated use of the endlessly rich textures and rhythms that define the songwriting history of Brazil, which Sessa joins as one of its most promising new voices.
Reggae SummerSplash Festival
Reggae SummerSplash is an annual festival presented by the WorldBeat Cultural Center in San Diego and has a 13 year history of celebrating reggae music and culture. Each year the festival features performances by renowned reggae artists, providing a vibrant atmosphere that brings together fans of the genre. Come out and enjoy this year’s summer festival with the family! There will be a world pop up market including food and beverage vendors.
This year’s lineup features Mykal Rose, Warrior King, Etana, Alika, Kush and the Bloodfiyah Angels, Quinto Sol and Revival!
Presented by WorldBeat Cultural Center and ArtPower
Schedule
4 pm: KUSH
5 pm: Quinto Sol and Alika
6:30 pm: Etana
7:45 pm: Revival and Warrior King
9:15 pm: Mykal Rose
Pop-Up Cultural Market
Olivia’s Kitchen
West Coast Hot Chicken
Native Like Water
San Diego 350
NEXGEN EMF
Rose Reggae
Bak Carving
Black Buddha Imports
and more!
Ana Tijoux
with J Noa
One of the most respected MCs in any language, Ana Tijoux has been winning over fans around the world since her debut 1977 bubbled up from an underground sensation into mainstream recognition after being featured on the hit TV show “Breaking Bad” and favorited by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke.
“South America’s answer to Lauryn Hill: equally skillful at singing and rapping,” (New York Times), Tijoux brings her new album Vengo on tour to the US—her first full US tour since 2018—which showcases the nimble MC over lush, golden-era hip-hop production rooted in traditional Latin instrumentation.
Born in France to Chilean parents in political exile during Pinochet’s dictatorship, Tijoux moved back to Chile as a teenager and found a home in the emerging hip-hop scene of Santiago. In concert, Tijoux takes the stage with a full band that brings to life the intricate arrangements of the new album, a whirlwind trip through hip-hop, jazz, and funk, spiced with a bit of politics and her great sense of humor that has led audiences around the globe fall in love with her.
OKAN
Fusing Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk and global rhythms in songs about immigration, resistance and love, OKAN takes their name from the word for heart in their Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria. With vocals in Spanish, English and Spanglish, OKAN is led by the Cuban-born violinist and vocalist Elizabeth Rodriguez and percussionist and vocalist Magdelys Savigne, both Grammy and Latin-Grammy nominees.