By The Music Joint Entertainment Group & Joe Contreras

Carnaval: The Tour celebrates Latino heritage in the United States by focusing on the integral role Latin music has played in the American story of folk, jazz, and rock’n’roll. “Celebrate Our Folk” is our way of saying “celebrate our America.” This one-of-a-kind concert experience is an extension of the Making Movies Carnaval, a music and arts festival founded by American rock’n’roll band The band Making Movies headlined Carnaval in Boulder at E-Town Hall May 14th at with special guest, Grammy award winning musician Alex Cuba.

Making Movies is a band that blends pulsing Afro-Latino rhythms, psychedelic jams and rock ‘n’ roll swagger into powerful live performances, full of theatrics and cathartic climaxes. Armed with the ambitious and politically charged 2017 release I Am Another You – “lyrically and sonically one of the best albums of the year,” NPR raved – and a companion EP, You Are Another Me, the Kansas City band punches out one high-energy song after another. The foursome showcases their Latin American roots, with front man Enrique Chi incorporating traditional instruments like the Panamanian mejorana alongside electric guitar, or the Chaurand brothers swapping drums and percussion for a dueling zapateado huasteco, a traditional form of dance from Veracruz, Mexico. The band’s political idea is straightforward enough that they can express it in four words: “We are all immigrants.”

Enrique Chi told Latin Life Denver Media is a recent phone interview about how a Latino rock band got it’s start in Kansas City, not exactly a hot bed for that kind of music. “It started about nine years ago. My roots were in Panama. I was writing songs in English & Spanish in Kansas City. My dad was a fan of psychedelic rock, an oddity for Santiago, Panama where he grew up, and my mom was into salsa, merenque, cumbia music. So at home I heard both types of music equally. That in part has shaped the direction my music has taken.”

Enrique talked about how the other parts came about and how current band came into being. “I started out doing small gigs with may dad playing back-up.  During one gig I met a woman who had a ballet folklorico group. She wanted me to meet her son. I agreed and after just one rehearsal, Juan Carlos, her son and I realized we had something special. Soon his brother and my brother became part of band.” He continued saying, ” I have always recognized this link between rock & roll music, whether it be Led Zepplin or the Beatles and Latin music. There is an energy that connects them.

With fellow band member Juan Carlos, who is of Mexican decent and who had been dancing folkloric music since he was three years old and later as a Salsa musician and Enrique’s musical upbringing the duo began to experiment with the two styles of music. “We ended up studying the roots of Salsa music, the Afro-Latin rhythms, and using that as a base and then incorporating the the experimental nature of rock and roll where you can try anything and it can be cool. A kind a punk rock energy.  If the Beatles and Rumba could have a baby it would represent what we are trying to do,” said Enrique.

Making Movies consists of two sets of brothers, Enrique Chi (vocals/guitar), Diego Chi (bass/vocals),Juan-Carlos Chaurand (percussion/keys) and Andres Chaurand (drums).  They are all in the mid twenties to early thirty’s  in age. The band currently resides in Kansas City.

For four weeks this summer of 2018, venues across the USA will host the first ever Carnaval tour, curated by Making Movies. The concerts will invoke the spirit of a Latin American Carnaval where music, culture, and protest dance together. Carnaval: The Tour features special guests: Alex Cuba, Las Cafeteras, and Mariachi Flor De Toloache.
Carnaval The Tour is redefining folk in North America by highlighting the rich, but often overlooked, folk music of Latin America and the artists who are bringing it into the future. From Los Angeles to Cuba, Panama to New Orleans, Carnaval is a moment to let loose and express the resilience of the human spirit. It is an open and inclusive environment; a place where tradition and rebellion coexist.

The 21-date tour will begin on May 14 at Boulder, Colorado and end on June 9th in Kansas City. This one-of-a-kind concert experience is an extension of the Making Movies Carnaval, a music and arts festival founded by American rock’n’roll band Making Movies. Carnaval: The Tour celebrates Latino heritage in the United States by focusing on the integral role Latin music has played in the American story of folk, jazz, and rock’n’roll. “Celebrate Our Folk” is our way of saying “celebrate our America.”

Making Movies is a known band that blends pulsing Afro-Latino rhythms, psychedelic jams and rock ‘n’ roll swagger into powerful live performances, full of theatrics and cathartic climaxes. Armed with the ambitious and politically charged 2017 release I Am Another You – “lyrically and sonically one of the best albums of the year,” NPR raved – and a companion EP, You Are Another Me, the Kansas City band punches out one high-energy song after another.

The foursome showcases their Latin American roots, with front man Enrique Chi incorporating traditional instruments like the Panamanian mejorana alongside electric guitar, or the Chaurand brothers swapping drums and percussion for a dueling zapateado huasteco, a traditional form of dance from Veracruz, Mexico. The band’s political idea is straightforward enough that they can express it in four words: “We are all immigrants.”
Alex Cuba, a forward-thinking, indie-minded artist who has amassed a steadily growing following among critics and fans will be the special guest at the tour for the first 14 dates. With over 20 awards and nominations to his name, including 4 Latin Grammys, two Juno Awards and three Grammy Nominations. His music at once incorporates his roots and is a unique amalgam of styles.

Kansas City rock n roll band MAKING MOVIES. The band is spectacular, I think you’d enjoy seeing them live.

En Espanol

Durante cuatro semanas del verano 2018, diferentes escenarios en los EE. UU. serán el marco de presentación de la primera gira de Carnaval, auspiciado por Making Movies. Las presentaciones invocarán el espíritu de un Carnaval Latinoamericano en donde la múscia, la cultura y la protesta danzarán en concierto. Carnaval: The Tour incluye como invitados especiales a Alex Cuba, Las Cafeteras, y Mariachi Flor De Toloache.
Carnaval: The Tour está redefiniendo el folklor en Norte America, realzando la riqueza, frecuentemente ignorada, del folklor Latinoamericano y los artistas que lo llevan de la mano hacia el futuro. Desde Los Angeles hasta Cuba, de Panamá a New Orleans, el carnaval es un momento para liberar y expresar la resiliencia del espíritu humano. Es un ambiente abierto e incluyente, un lugar donde la tradición y la rebelión coexisten.
La gira de 21 fechas confirmadas comienza en 14 de mayo en Boulder, Colorado y finaliza el 9 de junio en la ciudad donde Making Movies radica desde hace varios años, Kansas City. Esta experiencia única en concierto es una extensión de Making Movies Carnaval, un festival de artes y música fundada por el propio grupo. Carnaval: The Tour celebra la herencia Latina in los EEUU enfocándose en el rol integral que la música Latina ha tenido en la historia americana del folklor, jazz y rock’n’roll. “Celebramos nuestro folklor” es una manera de decir “celebramos nuestra América.”
Making Movies es un grupo reconocido por su mezcla de pulsantes ritmos afro-latinos, improvisaciones psicodélicas con rock’n’roll, en poderosas presentaciones en vivo, llenas de actitudes teatrales y puntos álgidos y catárticos.
Armados con su ambicioso y políticamente cargado álbum I Am Another You que salio el 2017, el cual NPR describe fue”lírica y sonoramente uno de los mejores álbumes del año”, y con un EP llamado You Are Another Me, la banda de Kansas City presenta una canción de gran energía tras otra. El cuarteto muestra sus raíces latinoamericanas, con el líder de la banda Enrique Chi incorporando instrumentos tradicionales como una mejorana folclórica panameña y la guitarra eléctrica, y con los hermanos Chaurand saliendo de la batería y la percusión para dar el pulso rítmico con un duelo de ‘zapateado’: un baile tradicional de Veracruz, México. La idea política de la banda es lo suficientemente directa como para poder expresarla en tres palabras: “Todos somos inmigrantes”. (We are all immigrants).
Alex Cuba, un pensador progresivo, que ha logrado mantener un constante crecimiento en su público y críticos especializados, es el invitado especial de las primeras 14 fechas de la gira. Con más de 20 premios y nominaciones a su nombre, incluyendo 4 Latin Grammys, 2 premios Juno y 3 nominaciones al Grammy, Alex Cuba incorpora sus raíces logrando una amalgama única de estilos.
Las Cafeteras una banda Chicana del Este de Los Angeles, conocidos por su fusión de poesía con la música folklórica y el tradicional Son Jarocho, música Afro-mexicana y el baile de zapateado, es otro de los invitados especiales de Carnaval: The Tour en 7 fechas de la gira.