National Sawdust Latin Season 2026 ~ New York Latin Culture

Tucked inside a century-old sawdust factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, National Sawdust is one of New York’s most adventurous nonprofit music venues.

Latin Music at National Sawdust

Yasser Tejeda & Marcos J. López

Afro-Dominican Puerto Rican Latin Alternative 🇩🇴 🇵🇷
June 26 | 7pm | FREE with rsvp

Award-winning Dominican composer, guitarist, vocalist, and producer Yasser Tejeda brings his Afro-Dominican roots music to the National Sawdust stage in partnership with Parcha Projects, a Caribbean artist discovery platform.

Born and raised in Santo Domingo and based in Brooklyn since 2013, Tejeda fuses traditional Afro-Dominican forms — palo, salve, sarandunga — with jazz, rock, and Caribbean rhythms. Juan Luis Guerra has called his work a marvelous example of what is happening with Dominican music. Most Dominicans deny their African heritage, but Tejeda promotes it. That’s where the fun is.

Percussionist Marcos J. López is Puerto Rican musical royalty. He is the grandson of Sammy Ayala, a founding member of Cortijo y su Combo, the salseros (including Ismael Rivera) who put bomba Puertorriqueña’s pulsing dance rhythms into la salsa. López has toured with a who’s who of Puerto Rican salsa, reggaeton, and plena stars, lately with Marc Anthony.

Dominican Puerto Rican is an interesting combination. It’s very common in the Caribbean. Just 80 miles apart, we’re related, but different too. The Cepeda Family, the first family of bomba Puertorriqueña, told me their tradition comes from a French plantation in Mayagüez. The tip of eastern Puerto Rico is where people from Hispaniola Quisqueya/Ayití used to enter Borikén. Puerto Rico has excellent native merengue, and the Dominican Republic has good salsa. We’re all mixed.

The concert is part of National Sawdust’s Young Masters series — a platform honoring artists who have achieved exceptional mastery early in their careers.

Sonido Gallo Negro

Peruvian Psychedelic Cumbia from Mexico 🇲🇽
June 18 | 7:30pm | $40+

Mexico City’s most hypnotic export arrives at National Sawdust for a night that will rearrange your senses. Formed in 2011, Sonido Gallo Negro fuses psychedelic cumbia, Peruvian tropical roots, surf rock, analog synthesizers, and theremin into an intense, danceable experience — complete with live hallucinogenic visuals by Dr. Alderete.

Their sound is Peruvian, not Mexican. It’s very fun. Imagine that you just drank five strong chicha corn beers, and you’ll know what I mean. Five studio albums and tours across 20 countries have made them one of the most internationally recognized independent acts out of Mexico.

Next Festival ~ Andrea Casarrubios

Spanish Contemporary Classical Cellist and composer 🇪🇸
June 6 | 7:30pm | Doors 6:30pm | $37+

The Next Festival of Emerging Artists celebrates the contributions of women immigrant composers to American music, with Grammy-nominated cellist and composer Andrea Casarrubios as featured artist.

Born in Madrid, Spain, Casarrubios has built an international reputation as both performer and composer. The 2026 season coincides with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and features world premieres.

Felipe Lara / Talea Ensemble / Conrad Tao: Mazes and Portals

Brazilian Contemporary Classical 🇧🇷
Wed, June 3 | 7:30pm | $57+

Brazilian-American composer Felipe Lara, born in São Paulo and based in the United States since 1999, brings five major works to National Sawdust in a New York premiere.

A 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist, Lara has been hailed by the New York Times as a gifted Brazilian-American modernist whose compositions are vivid, technically formidable, and richly immersive. The program spans more than a decade of his distinctive musical voice, performed by the Talea Ensemble with pianist Conrad Tao.

Wyclef Jean

Haitian Rapper 🇭🇹
Wed, May 27 | 7:30pm | $59

The Grammy Award-winning Haitian-born rapper, singer, and producer comes to National Sawdust for an intimate evening presented by the Grammy Museum. Before performing, Wyclef will talk about his upcoming seven-album project Quantum Leap, with Wayno, host of Complex’s Everyday Struggle.

Born in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, and raised in Brooklyn and Newark, Wyclef Jean rose to global fame as a founding member of the Fugees before building a towering solo career that has spanned hip-hop, reggae, pop, and Haitian Creole music. This conversation and performance is part of the Grammy Museum’s New York City series.

To see an artist of Jean’s stature in a small room, and especially to hear him talk, is a real blessing. By the way, May is Haitian Heritage Month.