¡Caramba Niño! by Chuchumbé

The group Chuchumbe has participated in the principal "Son Jarocho" festivals and meetings that take place in the state and in the country, in the fairs and traditional parties of the Veracruzan villages, such as the Fair of the Candelaria in Tlacotalpan and Minatitlan, the fairs of San Pedro Soteapan, Santiago and San Andres Tuxtla and in the "Son" and "Decima" meetings in Jalapa, in the Internatioanl Festival of Metepec, in the Afrocaribbean Festivals of the city of Veracruz, in university cultural affairs at the Veracruzan University, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Autonomous University of Mexico, and at the Ibero-American"Decima" and Caribbean Festival, among others.

It has been present in international events in the United States of America, Bolivia, Venezuela and Canada. The group also participted in the third Latin American Harp Encounter and the First Encounter of "Decima", both in Venezuela, and in the Mexican "Son" Encounter in California, the United States of America.

The group undertook a musical interchange residency with the group Un Solo Pueblo (One People) from Venezuela, giving concerts in various different cities of this country. In March of 1999, during another residency with the Irish group The Cassidys, both groups shared four concerts having previously prepared a program that fused Irish music with "Son Jarocho".

The members of Chuchumbe have participated in musical projects that resulted in the edition of the discs "Rural Sones from the Region of the Tuxtlas", ("Sones Campesinos en la Región de los Tuxtlas"), "Son for Friends", ("Son pa'los Amigos"), "The Voices of the Cedar Tree", ("Las Voces del Cedro"). The were invited guests for the disc "Mostros" with the Mexican rock group "La Maldita Vecindad" where "Son Jarocho" was fused with Rock and Roll music. They collaborated on some children's compositions with Arturo Cipriano and Isabel III. The group's work can be seen on their first compact disc titled "¡Caramba Niño!" (Gracious!, Children)

Chuchumbe was invited as the representative of traditional Mexican music for the closing of the Senegalese musician Youusou N'Dour on his Mexican tour. In this closing the musicians who accompanied the Senegalese musician joined in with the Veracruzan group with their drums and other instruments in a magnificent improvisation.

In July of 1999, the group recorded its composition "Las Decimas Para Simon Bolivar", along with groups such as Inti Illimani and Moncada among others, for a compact disc that will appear shortly.

In December of 1999, Chuchumbe was invited to the City of Campeche for the First Festival of The Historic Centre of this city. ("Primer Festival del Centro Historico"). In that same month, in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Chuchumbe performed at the San Cristobal Festival 2000 (Festival San Cristobal 2000).

In January, 2000, it played a part in the celebration of King's Day (Dia de Reyes) in the Plaza of the Constitution in Mexico City. This same month, along with Vieux Diop, Senegalese musician, Chuchumbe formed a part of the Afrofandango concert in Mexico City in the presence of more than three thousand five hundred people in an encounter between the musical traditions of Africa and Mexico.

In February, 2000, the group Chuchumbe travelled to Washington D.C. where they performed along with the group Mono Blanco in another encounter between Africa and Mexico giving "zapateada", lute and musical interpretation workshops as well as a concert with musicians from the West of Africa.

In April, 2000, the group Chuchumbe forms a part of the Festival of the Historic Centre (Festival del Centro Historico) in the Plaza of the Constitution of Mexico City. That same month it goes on tour through Colombia, for the International Festival of Theatre (Festival Internacional de Teatro) in Bogota.

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