The Annex Sessions: Kayombe y sus Yumberos

Kayombe y sus Yumberos

We’re thrilled to share that the group Kayombe y sus Yumberos led by the talented Bay Area musician, Kai Lyons, has been invited to perform at the 2024 National Changui Festival in Guantanamo, Cuba, from June 23rd to 30th.

Changui is a music that developed in Eastern Cuba, in the province of Guantanamo (about 80 km north of Cuba’s former capital, Santiago) around the 1890’s as a recreational acoustic percussion-based music of Congo (West-African) origin. It is more syncopated than the Cuban son style (i.e. Buena Vista Social Club) and is considered “the father of Cuban music”. It utilizes a scraper (guayo), shaker (maraca), marimbula (bass kalimba), bongo de monte (a special kind of drum that is tuned with fire and water), and a Cuban-style guitar called a tres, to create social gatherings that lasted for several days at a time.