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Chico Chica
Artist
United Kingdom
 
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Photo by: Chico Chica
About: Barbara Snow
Photo by: Chico Chica
About: Hilary Cameron
ABOUT
On the premise that players should sing and singers should play, Chico Chica do just that: playing piano, guitar, flute, percussion, flugelhorn, and cavaquinho while taking it in turns to sing the lead vocal. Chico Chica take myriad elements from around the world: samba, salsa, rai, jazz, tango, calypso, hip-hop, and cabaret, turn up the heat and then stir fry them in the wok of their collective subconscious to form an unforgettable evening of original song and spoken word.

Formed in 2010, Chico Chica released their first album Mélangerie in 2011 and toured the UK and Ireland several times. The band are regulars on the festival circuit (including Porthcawl Jazz Festival, Canterbury Arts Festival, Rye International Jazz and Blues Festival, Teignmouth Jazz Festival, Bedford Arts Festival, and Llanelli Jazz Festival) as well as jazz clubs in and around London (including Map Cafe, St James Theatre, Crazy Coqs, The Crypt St Martins in the Field, Bull's Head, ArtsDepot, Jagz).

In the summer of 2013, singer and trumpeter Barbara Snow heard a BBC Radio 4 item on the work of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders in the Syrian civil war. In it, a boy called Ali was reported to have said ‘you won’t believe what I have seen’. These words inspired Snow to write and record a song with Chico Chica and donate the proceeds of the sales to the Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders Syria Crisis Appeal. Barbara Snow toured with Paul Weller, Jools Holland, Maxi Priest, and The Blow Monkeys before forming Chico Chica.

Chico Chica are about to release The Glow of Havana, a selection of salsa-themed songs, on 10'' vinyl. The album features salsa legend Roberto Pla on timbales.
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