Global Sounds on the Hill featuring Latin Music Sextet Las Guaracheras

Curated and hosted by iconic DC impresario and musician Jim Thomson

Las Guaracheras is a powerful Latin Music sextet from Cali, Colombia that performs Afro-Caribbean rhythms such as salsa, as well as music from the Pacific region of Colombia. Their compositions and lyrics revolve around the revindication and recognition of the role of women in the music industry – especially in the Latin Music scene in Colombia – and seek to express the power and strength of women as sources of love, hope, resilience and creativity. Selected to form part of the 2025/26 Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Performing Arts Exchange (PAGE), Las Guaracheras have been featured at U.S. venues such as: Lotus Festival (IN), Freight & Salvage (CA), etc. and in 2025 will be at LACMA Latin Sounds (CA), Twin Cities Jazz Festival (MN) and others. They have performed in Europe and the Americas at venues such as: Sunfest (Canada), Cubadisco (Cuba), BIME (Spain), Portamérica Latitudes/FIMpro, and El Zócalo (Mexico). Photo credit: Juan Fernandez

About Jim Thomson: Jim Thomson is an independent DIY music producer based in Washington DC who specializes in booking, live music production, artist management, DJ events, and record releases. In Washington DC he operates an ongoing live music series called Secret Planet DC that partners with various venues, foundations, and musicians all across the city to produce unique, intimate, and meaningful performances. He also owns and operates the Washington, DC-based boutique record label Electric Cowbell Records as well as holding down and curating all vinyl DJ residencies at The Green Zone, Cana, La Shukran, Daikaya, Le Mont Royal, Eaton Hotel, the DC Record Fair, and other bars and restaurants in the city.

Jim is also a lifelong musician and promoter, playing drums as a founding member of GWAR, The Alter-Natives (SST Records), Bio Ritmo, CSC Funk Band, Time Is Fire, and he currently plays drums and percussion with Motherf*ckers JMB & Co with Geologist from Animal Collective. One of the first concerts he co-promoted was a Bad Brains show in Richmond, Virginia in 1987 followed by years of concerts including surf guitar legend Dick Dale, Knitting Factory tours, Marc Ribot, Charles Gayle, Negativland, Medeski, Martin, and Wood, and many others.