Rooted in Colombia and based in New York, Combo Chimbita lives in the future. After playing together for years, these first-generation New Yorkers—powerhouse vocalist Carolina Oliveros, synth and bassist Prince of Queens, guitarist Niño Lento, and drummer Dilemastronauta—began experimenting with different traditional musical styles during their late night residencies at Barbès in Brooklyn. Exploring the connections between visual identity and improvisational long-form trips, Combo Chimbita came together as a four-piece band after they started encouraging more vocals by Carolina Oliveros, who tightens the rhythm with her guacharaca.
Ref: https://www.discogs.com/artist/3806373-El-Combo-Chimbita

Combo Chimbita formed in 2016 as a loose combination of friends and bandmates, many of whom had played together in other groups, all of whom were products of the Colombian diaspora who ended up as first generation New Yorkers making their way in the city’s fertile music scene. Through a year-long residency at Brooklyn’s iconic venue Barbés, the group’s sound evolved, mutated, and gradually came into focus. What had once been a casual jam session now clearly showed signs of real synergy- magic, really. The crackling, jazz-informed rhythms of drummer Dilemastronauta, Niño Lento’s razor sharp guitar, Prince of Queens’ cosmic synths, Carolina Oliveros’ mesmerizing vocals and propulsive guacharaca converged to create what we know now as the ever-evolving Combo Chimbita.

Ref: https://wonderwheelrecordings.com/artist/combo-chimbita/

The New-York based galaxy-hopping quartet Combo Chimbita start 2025 in the clouds with a brand new single, the first with Wonderwheel Recordings - “Dímelo”. It’s a track that takes off on a high-note. Fast-paced and funky, the track takes the band’s signature glazy cumbia-influenced guitar rhythm and infuses it with a jazzy drum rhythm, guided by vocalist Carolina Oliveros’ soul, hypnotic voice.

“Dímelo” is an internal dialogue, a sonic representation of what it feels and sounds like to choose yourself. “Cuando por fin yo me elegí (I finally chose myself)” is a phrase that repeats consistently throughout the track. “It’s an honest song,” says Carolina Oliveros, “that speaks on what it means to understand that for however much you may love someone, you can’t force them to love you the same way- that that is love you have to give yourself.” The track was recorded in late 2023 alongside their last single “Margarita” with Victor Axelrod (aka Ticklah). In many ways, it’s the first track in a return to the band’s roots, and a hint of what’s to come.

Combo Chimbita formed in 2016 as a loose combination of friends and bandmates, many of whom had played together in other groups, all of whom were products of the Colombian diaspora who ended up as first generation New Yorkers making their way in the city’s fertile music scene. Through a year-long residency at Brooklyn’s iconic venue Barbés, the group’s sound evolved, mutated, and gradually came into focus. What had once been a casual jam session now clearly showed signs of real synergy- magic, really. The crackling, jazz-informed rhythms of drummer Dilemastronauta, Niño Lento’s razor sharp guitar, Prince of Queens’ cosmic synths, Carolina Oliveros’ mesmerizing vocals and propulsive guacharaca converged to create what we know now as the ever-evolving Combo Chimbita. 

Ref: https://combochimbita.bandcamp.com/album/d-melo

In this session, you've got front-row seats to a mini concert by Combo Chimbita, who absolutely lit up the World Cafe with what they call "tropical futurism." What does that mean? You're about to hear it in action. But, just so you know what you're in for, Combo Chimbita uses cumbia as a building block but they get psychedelic, trippy and downright freaky, with an inventive combination of rhythms and sounds from Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.

Combo Chimbita is a quartet of first-generation New Yorkers whose backgrounds are Colombian and who grew up loving heavy metal, psychedelic funk and soul. Their debut release is a futuristic concept album called Abya Yala. It came out this summer and they treated us to two live songs from it — let's dig in, starting with "Congo."

Ref: https://www.npr.org/sections/world-cafe/2017/12/07/569082756/latin-roots-combo-chimbita