Merengada
Salsa Band

Line up: 10 piece band: vocals x 2, trumpet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, congas, guira/timbales, tambora/bongo, piano, bass.

MERENGADA is a 10 piece band, formed in early 1997, and based in London, England. Merengada's live stage show is the liveliest in Europe, modelled on the native bands from Santo Domingo, and with a front line of 2 crazy singers (Guillermo and Biembo) and hi-energy girl-sax player Nina, the non-stop show leaves them and their audiences breathless and ecstatic!

With an international line-up of 2 Dominicans, one Mexican, an Italian and 6 top British musicians, this band has created their own identity and repertoire, with some classic songs, and many of their own salsa and merengue compositions, which are featured on the new CD, and have already been used on television (Carlton TV & Channel 4).

The line-up: 2 Singers, 3 Brass (trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax), 3 percussion (congas, guira/timbales, tambora/bongo), Piano, and Bass.

This summer they performed at over 40 venues and festivals, including Italy (Torino and Verona) and Belgium (Polé Polé - headlining with Orquesta Clave y Guaguanco, and Orlando Poleo, and Bredene with Alfredo de la Fe).

They were also commissioned by BBC TV to write a salsa song specially for a Film "Babyfather" which was broadcast in 2001, and Merengada was up on the screen performing their music.


What the Press say:

"Great Sergio George / Isidro Infante style salsa cover by the UK's top Latin Dance band" - DJ Lubi OJC, Casa Latina

"Probably the most danceable Latin band in the UK "- Vic Suarez, "The Salsamaniac" magazine

"..los componentes del grupo prometen movimiento de caderas allá donde se presenten" - Noticias Latino-americano

"ARRANCANDO CD" - one of my all-time TOP 12 merengue/bachata albums" - Joan Shenton, Songlines Magazine 2001

"One of Europe's top merengue bands, who also play wicked Salsa! - Good Band"
Straight No Chaser 2001

"A popular London-based Latin dance band....an honourable first album"
Philip Sweeney, Songlines

"The most requested song of 1999" JAZZ FM Radio

"Pure frenzied, kicking stuff - a must play for DJ's anywhere" - The Rough Guide, review Dec 99

"They are notable both because of the sheer enthusiasm and vitality in their playing, and the variety in their songs" The Guardian

"They've recently been getting radio play with their latest EP which features a mean version of "No Woman No Cry" Time Out, London

"The band are super-slick meren/salsa dance machine Merengada. This is a killer" - Salsa World magazine

' If you can sit still while the contagious merengue rhythms blast past, you'd better consult your doctor because you must be nearly dead.....No woman No Cry is Hot ,Hot, Hot salsa. Brilliant playing by all band members- Bob Marley would have approved'. "Dance 4 U" Magazine

"The UK's answer to "Orquesta de la Luz" '
Eddie Rodriguez, MIDEM, New York

"A masterpiece of totally radical banging sublimeity....
-an instant hit throughout the world....it is a top notch groove and production. 'No Woman' works so well it makes you think maybe it was written as a salsa song first, and then Bob did his version!"
Dave Hucker, The Beat magazine