C-26 is set to perform at the Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā Soundshell tonight (Thursday 21 January) from 8pm.
The seven-piece band is made up of Latino and Kiwi musicians from predominantly jazz backgrounds, with singer Anayibi Loboa Linan saying this combined gives their music “a unique culture and flavour”.
Anayibi, a trained biochemist, came to Aotearoa from Cali, Colombia, in 2001.
She says classic salsa was the soundtrack to her youth, as friends and family would congregate at her family home all the time to listen and dance to salsa music.
Anayibi always wanted to sing salsa, a genre of music she says is more commonly sung by men.
She decided to start her own band after moving to Wellington, and came up with the name C-26, which is a reference to her home city and country and the street number where she grew up.
C-26’s music is inspired by salsa classics from Cuba and Puerto Rico and pays respect to the greats of salsa music. The band won the New Zealand Latin Award as best Latin band 2020.
Anayibi says she and her band members are looking forward to performing at Gardens Magic.
“It will be our first time performing in such an amazing and beautiful place! We can’t wait to interact with the public and see them dance to our tunes.”