Combo Chimbita

Rooted in the Colombian diaspora and forged in the crucible of New York City’s music scene, Combo Chimbita has carved out a singular space in Latin alternative music. The group’s sound is expansive and psychedelic, anchored by the shamanic intensity of vocalist Carolina Oliveros, and impossible to ignore.

Formed in 2016 among friends and bandmates already seasoned by other projects, Combo Chimbita found its footing through a year-long residency at Brooklyn’s storied Barbès. What began as casual jams gradually cohered into something unmistakable — a sound built on Dilemastronauta’s crackling rhythms, Niño Lento’s razor-sharp guitar, and Prince of Queen’s cosmic synths, all orbiting Oliveros’s mesmerizing vocals and propulsive guacharaca. That chemistry first surfaced on El Corredor Del Jaguar, an EP that laid the blueprint for everything to follow.

Full-length albums Abya Yala (2017), Ahomale (2019), and Ire (2021) deepened the vision bi-annually, while relentless touring honed a live show of rare intensity. Tight and laser-focused one moment, sprawling and transcendent the next, Combo Chimbita’s music moves with the logic of ritual — individual virtuosity in service of something larger, and always fiercely alive.