The band’s Electronic Press Kit including high resolution images, PA tech spec and EPK pdf is available from this google drive folder here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14I4mDRbTYIuTyrIW-m-4yXmxw19oKAws?usp=sharing

About Charanga del Norte

Charanga del Norte has a strong track record for quality live performances.

The band has supported Buena Vista Social Club’s Eliades Ochoa at The Bridgewater Hall Manchester and top Cuban bands Orquesta Aragón and Changüi de Guantanamo at Victoria Park, London as part of a Barbican booking.

Their latest LP release Pachanga Time has gained international traction online and via radio plays.

Video of the live recording of ‘Bronx Pachanga’ can be found here: https://youtu.be/GxEvVyJH8WY

We are the only UK charanga orchestra and offer a unique sound world experience for UK audiences.

Positive gender balance – 50/50 with a female bandleader arranger and main soloist.

Some band history:

“Charanga del Norte” (Charanga from the North) was set up in 1998 by the bandleader Sue Miller who studied Cuban flute improvisation with the legendary Richard Egües from Orquesta Aragón. The band has toured the UK and performed at many venues including The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and The Barbican, London supporting Buena Vista Social Club’s Eliades Ochoa, Orquesta Aragón and Changüi de Guantánamo. Recordings include albums Our Mam in Havana, Look Back in Charanga and The Best of Charanga del Norte. They have just released a new vinyl album Pachanga Time following on from their EP Charanga Time. They play a mix of Cuban and New York charanga styles such as the Cuban son, danzón, mambo and chachachá plus 1960s ‘pachanga’ and Latin boogaloo.

Recordings

The band received a four star review for their album Our Mam in Havana from Rock n Reel, and a four star review in Songlines (2021) for their latest LP Pachanga Time. They have produced 6 albums and 4 EPs to date, and are also featured on mainstream salsa compilations by Avid Records and Union Square Records.

The new LP album Pachanga Time is available here  https://charangadelnorte.bandcamp.com/album/pachanga-time

Reviews:

“Under the aegis of flautist and bandleader Sue Miller, they have spent the best part of two decades keeping alive the sound of charanga – the son-influenced Cuban dance music performed on the likes of violin and flute. Previous LPs – Look Back in Charanga and Our Mam in Havana [sic] – hint at the good-humoured groove within, and Pachanga Time similarly manages to bottle the fun and liveliness of a genre with tongue-in-cheek flair. It’s all here: piano, timbales, congas, guiro, strings, deployed on a New York charanga repertoire that had the city sizzling back in the day. “

Jane Cornwell, Songlines 2021

(Songlines full review of Pachanga Time is available from this link https://www.songlines.co.uk/review/pachanga-time)

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Described as ‘outta sight” by Max Salazar, legendary salsa DJ Al Angeloro has also stated ‘Al’s test is to quote Charlie Palmieri when deserved . . ” if you can’t dance with them you died last week”. That is all you need to know about Charanga del Norte and Sue’s Cuban flute.’

Al Angeloro The Montuno Sessions

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“Top-notch music from one of England’s leading Latin combos and the only 100 percent genuine charanga and pachanga band in the land. They are making some fine music that stands up shoulder-to-shoulder proudly with the best charanga musicians still around today, like Orquesta Aragon.”

The Beat

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“Superb UK-based salsa and charanga band”

Songlines

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“Inviting supporting acts to perform with legendary Cuban artists involved in the Buena Vista Social Club project is no easy matter, finding an outfit in the UK that can hold its own with a well informed audience makes the task all the more difficult…. Bridgewater Hall has a reputation for authentic, first class music and Charanga make the grade.”

The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

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“Latin music, but not as you may know it, this band are deliciously different and incredibly danceable”

The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen.