ARIA-nominated ALLY combined with Caribé plays global music drawn from Afro-Peruvian, Cuban, Afro-Brazilian and Andalusian traditional rhythms paired with a modern jazz aesthetic. And because they know Bellingen loves to dance, they'll be performing a set of Cuban rumba and son for you to shake those hips with the elegant Cuban dancer Cruz Vazquez Borges. The performance will also feature the two time Australian poetry grand slam winner Dai Moret.

ALLY/Caribé musicians include saxophonist/composer Gai Bryant (Elio Villafranca, Jim McNeely), sensational trombonist James Greening (Lou Reed, Maria Schneider, The catholics), Peruvian Australian percussionists Giorgio Rojas (Burn the Floor, Ursula Yovich) and Julio Candela (El Orqueston, Felix Valdelomar), pianist Daniel Pliner (Watussi, Monsieur Camembert), and bassist Cesar Marin (Son Veneno, Sonido).

ALLY/Caribe is supported by Los Vecinos (The Neighbours), a love child of the Bellingen music scene, incorporating Latin rhythms and sensibilities within a unique local sound, ready to bring you on an adventure with original compositions, performance and improvisation. Oscar Eager (Trumpet & Compositions), Tom Tuohy (Saxophone & Flute), Louise Gore (Piano), Danny Stitt (Bass), and Otis Narbutas Lyons (Drums & Percussion).

Critics John Shand said “ALLY never quite lets your expectations settle” and Jessica Nicholas described the ensemble live as a “...fascinating amalgam of styles and cultures”. Professor John Whiteoak described "...the inexhaustibly inventive Gai Bryant at Melbourne’s Paris Cat backed by Latin rhythm and other accompaniment of astonishing virtuosity, textual density and distinctiveness.”

Check out https://youtu.be/nEHTe13Zdvk

Supported by Create NSW and Bellingen Shire Council through the Community Event Sponsorship Fund.