There is no room in New York City quite like Barbès Brooklyn. Sixty people. Tin ceilings. Bare bulbs. A back room with folding chairs where the music bounces off every surface. It’s a survivor of Old New York.
On any given night you might hear Peruvian psychedelic cumbia, Guinean jazz, Venezuelan folk harp, Colombian marching brass, Brazilian choro, or Mexican-Irish fusion. You might be standing next to a musicologist, a Park Slope parent, a touring musician from Bogotá, or a Django Reinhardt devotee from Finland.
They usually present two or three bands a night. Barbès has been doing this every single night for 24 years. No night off. No formula. I prefer this to all those fancy places because it is real.
Latin Music at Barbès
Mamady Kouyate’s Mandingo Ambassadors 🇬🇳
Guinean griot guitarist with a 1970s Syliphone sound
Residency since 2008
Wednesdays, 10pm
$20 suggested donation
The African griot tradition passes through families. Kouyate’s father was one of the first griots to transcribe music onto the guitar. He is a living link to generations of the griot tradition.
The Guinean guitar sound is based on the percussive bounce of the balafon, a xylophone with gourd resonators. That puts a swing in the music that has a dreamy meditative drone feeling. It’s good for working because it drives you without distracting you.
The Syliphone sound was a Guinean record label that recorded state orchestras who absorbed son Cubano, guaracha, and bolero traditions into a uniquely African dance music sound at the time of independence.
MAY 2026
Tropical Vortex: C.A.M.P.O.S.
Psychedelic cumbia and son Cubano
Mon, May 25, 9pm
$15 suggested donation
Joshua Camp (Chicha Libre, Locobeach) is a one-man tropical electronic psych band. Though C.A.M.P.O.S. stands for Cumbias And More Psychedelic Original Sounds (it means countryside in Spanish), the project also takes cues from Americana, pop rock, Cuban son, and German electronica. With resident DJs Sonido Chichadelico and Adrian Is Hungry.
Venezuelan Joropo
Pipiris Nights 🇻🇪
Venezuelan joropo
Sun, May 24, 6pm
$20 suggested donation
Venezuelan musician Mafer Bandola gathers friends for a joropo session. Joropos are the central rhythm of Venezuelan Llanera folklore — at the heart of the rich musical culture of the plains (llanos) shared by Venezuela and Colombia.
Música Llanera is played on cuatro, maracas, bass, harp, and bandola, and draws from hybrid traditions including African, Indigenous, criollo, and Spanish roots. It is not well known outside the region — making this a rare and precious opportunity to hear it live in New York.
By the way, the band’s name is broken English for “people is nice.” LOL. That perfectly captures the happy feeling of Barbès. If you don’t get it, have another chicha. You’ll get it eventually. Ohhh.
Colombian Brass
Martín Vejarano’s Chia’s Dance Party 🇨🇴
Tropical Colombian brass
Sat, May 23, 10pm
$20 suggested donation
Inspired by Colombian marching band traditions and tropical grooves. Martín’s entertaining compositions and the band’s fiery improvisation promise a joyful and adventurous show. With Martín Vejarano on drums and compositions, Ben Stapp on tuba, Tim Vaughn on bombardino, Geoff Burke on soprano sax, and Justin Wood on alto sax.
Military marching bands are a significant root of Latin music. The Spanish colonial military first brought European brass and woodwinds to the Americas. When Latin America went independent, every country did their own thing as an expression of sovereignty. The French brought more European marching traditions when they invaded Mexico in the 1860s.
When there was nothing to do between wars, the musicians cut loose on their own and we got cumbia, merengue, porro, and jazz.
Psychedelic Cumbia DJs
Meridian Brothers ~ Mexican Institute of Sounds DJ Set 🇨🇴 🇲🇽
Ruido Tovar album release party
Psychedelic cumbia
Fri, May 22, 10-11:55pm
$20
Camilo Lara (Mexican Institute of Sounds) and Eblis Alvarez (Meridian Brothers) celebrate the release of their collaborative album Ruido Tovar — an exploration of the tropical music of Colombia and Mexico, from cumbia to the experimental vanguard, with a special nod to the 1980s Mexican cumbia of Rigo Tovar.
These are DJ sets featuring rare cuts from both artists and a panorama of the music that inspired them. The album includes a special appearance by Beck and members of Rigo Tovar’s Costa Azul. Vinyl on sale at the show.
For some reason, Mexicans and Colombians get along really well. Even before their current business relationships, both countries celebrated ranchero culture and the gentlemanly attitude that goes with it. And Colombian cumbia became popular in 1940s Mexico, where it developed into its own thing.
Barbès is the New York home of psychedelic cumbia. It’s happy good time music that goes good with chicha corn beer, or 2 or 3…
Colombian Folk
Tropical Vortex: Elvira y La Trietnia 🇨🇴
Contemporary Colombian folk
Resident DJs: Adrian is Hungry, Sonido Chichadelico
Sun, May 18, 9pm
$15 suggested donation. Give them $20.
Colombia’s folk traditions are among the richest and most diverse in Latin America, drawing on Indigenous, African, and Spanish roots across its Pacific, Caribbean, and Andean regions. La Trietnia (“The Three Ethnicities”) speaks directly to that convergence.
Regional Mexican with Colombian Drum
Guachinangos 🇲🇽 🇨🇴
Son jarocho, cumbia, champeta fusion
Sat, May 16, 10-12pm
$20 per person suggested donation
Folk fusion from another dimension. Guachinangos fuses son jarocho, cumbia, champeta, and other rhythms with an irresistible swing. A mix of traditional and electric instrumentation makes for particularly vibrant shows — part dance party, part community gathering. Real Latin.
With Juan Carlos Marin on requinto jarocho and voice, Gabriella Grimaldi on violin and voice, Alberto Fontes on electric guitar and jarana, Victor Babilonia on drums, Elvira Bustamante on maracas and voice, Leo Catricala on bass, and Inka Ortiz on tambor alegre.
Son jarocho is the traditional music of Veracruz, Mexico — itself a fusion of Spanish, African, and Indigenous roots that represents one of Latin America’s richest musical crossroads.
The Zapateado (Mexican tap dancing) is great. Colonizers feared the drum and banned it. The people said, we’re not drumming, we’re just stomping our feet. LOL.
And the Colombian drummer is not a stretch. Veracruz is Mexico’s Caribbean gateway, and Colombia has Caribbean coast.
Get Tickets
Bring cash money to tip the artists. Playing in NYC is tough. This is a labor of love. That’s one of the reasons it’s so cool.