Afro-Cuban, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latin, Caribbean, Spanish Rumba, and other dance rhythms.

A fixture in the local music scene since 1974, Gene Perry was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, and was one of the earliest pioneers of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean music in San Diego. His ensemble, Rumba Ketumba, is composed of a mixture of San Diego natives and musicians from around the world. Rumba Ketumba plays a high-energy mixture of Afro-Latin, Caribbean, Spanish Rumba, and other dance rhythms. Curator Yale Strom, whose Yiddish klezmer group has previously collaborated with Rumba Ketumba, will host and conduct a Q&A with the group after their performance. 

“Gene Perry and Rumba Ketumba’s extraordinary musical talent and personalities are hard for audiences to resist,” says Strom. “They have virtuosic ability with calypso, reggae, salsa, samba, Afro-Cuban, and African Diaspora music, and I have been fortunate enough to tour and collaborate with them on a number of groundbreaking cross-genre projects.”

Thursday, July 11
7:00-8:30 p.m.

Park & Market
Guggenheim Theatre