Gregorio Uribe Big Band, "Caribe Contigo" (English)
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March 26, 2015 By Sophie Maricq and Rob Hochschild

The New York-based Gregorio Uribe Big Band is a 16-piece orchestra that blends cumbia and other Colombian rhythms with the powerful sound and arrangements of a high-intensity large ensemble.

Led by Colombia-born vocalist and accordionist Gregorio Uribe, the band held a monthly residency for four years at Zinc Bar in Greenwich Village, and has performed at the Kennedy Center, Iridium Jazz Club, and Celebrate Brooklyn Festival, in addition to other leading venues. After spending his teenage years in his hometown of Bogotá, Colombia, Uribe eventually moved to Boston, enrolled at Berklee, and graduated with a degree in music in 2008.

Uribe has been an artist-in-residence at Dartmouth College and a commissioned composer for Grammy-winning Arturo O'Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, and has performed with Carlos Vives and Rubén Blades, among others. He was recently named by the government of Colombia as one of the "100 Most Successful Colombians Abroad."

In 2015, the band will release its debut album, a collection of songs that promises to be both danceable and sophisticated, approximating the experience of seeing the band live. The track featured in this episode of Sounds of Berklee, "Caribe Contigo," featured on was MTV’s Tr3s for four weeks in the United States and England.

The Gregorio Uribe Big Band performs at Berklee in the NPR live concert program, The Checkout—Live at Berklee, on April 1, 2015.