Music

Blending traditional and contemporary salsa with Brazilian music, funk, jazz and pop, DIÁSPORA provides the ULTIMATE catalyst for an engaging live outfit, delicately poised between its infectious appeal and its technically sophisticated sensibility. Since their second birthday, the band has been developing a repertoire of original songs that bring together the driving, pulsating salsa and samba rhythms with the rich harmonies of Bossa Nova, soul and acid jazz, combining English lyrics with strains of Spanish and Portuguese, to create a new pan-Latin fusion. 

The original songs take influences ranging South American pop, Spanish rumba, nu-Bossa, funk and reggaeton, with a lyrical interplay between love, musical intoxication and images from the natural world. They bring the technical sensibility of jazz and big band music with the deep indigenousness of the traditions that inspire them; lending itself to a sound that simultaneously has that cosmopolitan international flavour yet one that sticks true to its roots. 

The arrangements themselves are geared towards improvisation and spontaneity; containing flexible, open platforms which allow the musicians to really stretch out and to explore their musical territory, punctuated with unifying sections that bring the band into triumphant moments of tightness and togetherness. 

DIÁSPORA has become a real VIBE band; analogous to a single, living breathing organism, yet free and open at the same time, lending itself to bursts of collective spontaneity - clapping in clave, improvised vocal refrains and onstage swaying. The combination of its expansive 11-piece lineup and its diverse influences from Latin American and mainstream popular and world rhythms make for a true musical carnival...

"While it is easy to describe the music of DIÁSPORA as 'salsa' or 'samba'; for us, these are only short cuts in the infinite labyrinth of language which helps one to understand where we are coming from, musically. I prefer to describe it as the DIÁSPORA sound, because it is the sound that we want to hear, one that our minds and souls are longing for. It has different energies; at times, valiant, transcendental and voyeuristic; at times, strangely sad and 'saudade' (without losing its cheeky tongue); at times, radiantly jubilant, celebratory and bursting with life. Above all, it is fundamentally human, because our music is the collective expressive of our individual experiences."

The Brass Section

The brass section is an integral feature of the DIÁSPORA sound; it is what gives it that 'brass band' essence, and it is treated with equal importance - both with its sectional playing and with its individual soloists - as the vocalists. Inspired by the big bands of Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, Chucho Valdes and Dizzy Gillespie, DIÁSPORA brings that classic sweet sound of screaming trumpet, sensuous saxophone and deep, soulful trombone into the mix; punctuated by dynamic moments of viscosity reminiscent of the traditional marching bands that played such an important part in the formulation of this music.

Weddings, parties and private / corporate events

DIÁSPORA blends sophistication with FUN and it works equally well as an amazing party band available for weddings, parties and private / corporate events. Whether it is cheesy commercial Hollywood hits, sophisticated Latin jazz, straight-up contemporary salsa dance music or old school Cuban classics, it is completely up to you! And of course like all great bands DIÁSPORA will judge what the audience respond to on the day and are prepared to change the set list ‘on the fly’...