I just got this email from Luis Mario Ochoa who performs live salsa music around Toronto….here are some events for you to see!

“Just a quick note to inform you about my upcoming performances:

– Friday, July 11th – 9:30 PM – Luis Mario Ochoa w/ Hilario Duran (Quintet) at Harbourfront Sirius Stage – Ritmo Y Color – 235 Queens Quay West

– Saturday July 12th – 7:30 – Luis Mario Ochoa with Son Ache at Covent Garden Market – Caliente Festival Hispano London, Ontario 130 King St.

– Sunday, July 13th- 3:30 PM – Luis Mario Ochoa & Cimarron at Salsa On St. Clair Festival, Toronto

– Thursday 17th – 8:30 PM – Luis Mario Ochoa Quintet at Hotel Le Germain – 30 Mercer St. Toronto. (sold out event)

– Saturday July 19th – 3:30 PM – Luis Mario Ochoa & Cimarron at the Beaches Jazz Festival – Woodbine Stage.

– August 1st – 10 PM – Luis Mario Ochoa & Cimarron at Lula Lounge 1585 Dundas St W.

– August 5th -8 PM- Luis Mario Ochoa & Cimarron at the Oshawa Jazz and Blues Festival – Jubilee Pavillion – 55 Lakeview Park Ave – Oshawa

Hope to see you at one or more of my shows.

Thank you for your support, it helps me keep going!

Luis Mario
Cuban Music Productions”

The post Salsa Concerts in T.O. appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

We were mildly disappointed that we missed the salsa bands. We were able to hear two or three different flamenco bands and one even mixed salsa with flamenco for an interesting sound. However, with the craziness and mass audience, we were not inspired to dance.

As in the last two festivals, we visited this summer, the highlight was a very interesting band with a lead musician who played an electric violin. They were amazing as usual and built the biggest audience of the evening. They played right at the opening of the festival and 2 hours later as we returned from finishing the walk they were still playing strong. The lead exerts so much energy jumping and playing frantically, it is so fun to watch.

I would love to hear if anyone got to see Son Ache or Cache playing during the weekend. Hopefully there are still a few more opportunities to this summer to catch the bands playing. Looking forward to the Latin festival at Mel Lastman Square in September!

The post Jazz Fest on Friday appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

There are several venues for the festival. The Parti Gras part (kind of like the pre-party) is taking place this weekend at the Distillery July 20th – July 22nd. There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of salsa but is still worth checking out.

The main event is in the beaches area next weekend. The main stage at Kew Garden has Son Ache playing on July 28th at 12:30pm. They are an excellent Toronto band with up to 11 artists. I saw them at the beaches festival last year and they were wonderful as usual. It is great fun as people are dancing on the grass and in the park. There are plenty of other bands too playing from 11:30pm-5:00pm on both Saturday and Sunday July 28th/29th.

The most fun part of the festival is the evening portion – also known as the Streetfest which takes place from July 26-28th. Every evening from 7pm-11pm the entire strip is closed off and there is an abundance of artists, music, food and goods on display. Cache will be playing during one of these evenings (not sure of the time – let me know if you do) as well as Samba Squad and Gypsy which is a Rumba/Flamenco band. Lots of great options to choose from during this weekend.

For more info click here. Hopefully you will all take advantage of this wonderful event – one of the best festivals in Toronto. Happy listening!

The post Salsa – Beaches Jazz Fest appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.