12th Annual ENCUENTRO NYC Colombian Music Festival Set for Tonight at Le Poisson Rouge

ENCUENTRO NYC Colombian Music festival, founded by musicians Pablo Mayor and Anna Povich de Mayor, celebrates its 12th anniversary with a six hours of back-to-back performances at Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker Street. NYC) tonight, November 14th, 4-10pm. More than 50 musicians will be on stage performing for six hours the variety of rhythms and genres of Colombian music.

The line-up will feature the latest work of the most established groups in NYC including Gregorio Uribe Big Band's newest album Cumbia Universal featuring Ruben Blades; Folklore Urbano's recent production, El Barrio, a cross-cultural meeting of cumbia and salsa; Los Aliens-fiery, electronic grooves propelled by M.A.K.U. SoundSystem's drummer Andrés Jiménez; Encuentro veteran and guitarist Alejandro Flórez and his Tin Throat Project with Satoshi Takeishi on drums; Martin Vejerano'sCumbia River Band drawing on a festive repertoire of cumbia standards; and the now establishedCheap Landscape of guitarist and composer brainchild Sebastián Cruz; new to the NYC Colombian scene are singer/songwriter Olga Dominguez, keyboard player and back-up singer for Gilberto Santa Rosa, Bulla en el Barrio, a traditional bullerengue ensemble featuring folkloric drums, song, and dance, and singer/songwriter Veronica Tierra who will perform romantic boleros and bambucos with her quintet.

"This year's Encuentro NYC aims to focus our energies on the new releases and developments of Colombian artists renowned and yet to be discovered here in NYC," states Founder and Director,Pablo Mayor."The audience is in for a surprise around every corner: familiar artists in brand-new settings and a number of new arrivals on the scene."

Starting at 4pm, the festival convenes for the fourth year-in-a-row at Le Poisson Rouge, in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, with what is Encuentro's signature ambiance: an audience that is captivated from the time they enter the door until the final sixth hour; the non-stop showcase will feature music for dancing and music for listening. Encuentro NYC is proud to be a featured event of PAMAR's 10th annual Latin American Culture Week, showcasing Colombia's rich musical heritage and developments to the broader international and Latin American community.

Anna Povich de Mayor, co-producer, states that "The festival put strict requirements on programming artists who have something new this year, and the breadth of expression that we have seen is impressive. The audience will leave with new ears and new perspectives on the possibilities of Colombian music...And as always, the desire to hear more!"