VICTOR, Idaho – Teton Valley Foundation’s Music on Main returns from the holiday hiatus on Thursday, July 9, with Daptone Records’ Orquesta Akokán. NPR described the band’s no-holds-barred 21st-century take on the venerable Cuban mambo as “a groove as intense as a runaway train, calling to mind the full-bodied sound of past masters Perez Prado and Tito Puente.”
Akokán — the Yoruba word used by Cubans to mean “from the heart” or “soul” – has been met with worldwide critical acclaim including a Billboard Latin Music Award, Telemundo Latin American Music Award, Songlines Music Awards, and a GRAMMY nomination. Since Orquesta Akokán’s eponymous 2018 album, the band has performed at CAP UCLA, Vilar Performing Arts Center and Lincoln Center.
Horns drive the tunes, making them irresistibly danceable, and foregrounding the emblematic sonic qualities that uniquely identify the mambo; yet as the musicians trade solos, they articulate an advanced bebop language, manifesting modern Havana and Charlie Parker.
The band’s third album, “Caracoles” is filled with fierce and effervescent grooves that Kiko Ruiz, who has toured and recorded with Pancho Amat’s illustrious Estrellas del Buena Vista Social Club as well as Los Jovenes Clasicos del Son, affirms, can “…vibrate your soul, which is precisely what the world needs right now.” The tunes offer an irresistible invitation to heed the title song’s invitation, “Cucha mambo que yo emboa montero…este mambo es pa’ ti,” which means “Listen to this story, I bring it to you as a traveling song…This mambo is for you.”
Music on Main takes place at Victor City Park. The venue opens at 5 p.m. with Nic Quilter Quintet taking the stage at 5:45 p.m. Music on Main is a donation-based concert series and relies on concession sales. Please no outside alcohol or glass and if possible, please support the robust food court filled with local vendors and non-alcoholic options before packing up a picnic, as Teton Valley Foundation (TVF) does it best to support local businesses and nonprofits with community supported music.
Don’t forget this is the last week to participate in TVF’s community survey. All participants are entered into a drawing for VIP passes for the week of their choice in the remaining 2026 season. Fill out the form here.
