Jack Duncan
Percussion
Timba Cartel
Timba Cartel’s captivating high-energy music, transports audiences to tropical lands with the distinct sound of modern Salsa called Timba. This dynamic evolution of Cuban popular dance music is a fusion of Mambo, Son and Afro-Cuban folklore with an added dash of Funk and R&B, the end result is a fiesta of rhythm and melody that gets the audience dancing, singing and above all having fun. It's party time when this 9 piece ensemble that features rich, resonant vocals, punchy brass and turbo loaded percussion section hits the stage. The members of Timba Cartel are an All Star cast of multicultural musicians that collectively have been involved in Grammy and Juno award winning recordings and have played Festivals at home and around the world. Timba Cartel is ready to take their music to the world and bring the party wherever they go. The future looks bright for this Vancouver based Latin music force.
Jack Duncan the leader of Timba Cartel has performed all over the world, including Africa, India, Europe, Latin America the United States and Canada, with a variety of different groups. His previous Afro-Cuban Jazz band Shango Ashé released 2 C.Ds and opened concerts for some of the greats, including Cubanismo, Orlando “Maraca” Valle and Los Muñequitos de Matanzas and many others. His Performances and recordings with world renowned musicians include Chicago, Donna Summers, Ricardo Lemvo & the Makina Loca, Chucho Valdes, and Arturo Sandoval. Jack has appeared on over 60 CDs and numerous movie soundtracks, most notably the Grammy and Oscar Award winning movie Ratatouille and the Juno award winning album The Messenger with Yaya “Alpha” Diallo.
TIMBA CARTEL
Timba Cartel Members
NIHO TAKASE
PIANO
Niho was born in Japan where she was first introduced to classical piano at a young age and was taught by her aunt, who was an opera singer. With this tutoring she became very passionate about music. After moving to Canada she studied Piano and composition and completed a bachelor degree in music. In college she was introduced to Latin music and has studied in New York with the legendary Sonny Bravo former pianist of the Tito Puente Orchestra. After graduated from Vancouver Community College, Niho traveled to New York to study Latin Music with Sony Bravo who was the former pianist of Tito Puente Orchestra. Niho was awarded a Canada Council grant to study Cuban music and composition with the Grammy Award winning Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes.
CHRIS HAAS
DRUMS
SUSANA WILLIAMS
LEAD VOCALS
Chris Haas currently teaches music and photography at Moscrop Secondary School in Burnaby. From 1999-2020, he served as the director of bands and department head at Magee Secondary School in Vancouver. The award-winning music program at Magee involved over 400 students in numerous bands, choirs and a string orchestra. Past tours have included: Cuba, England, Scotland, USA, Russia, Japan, Italy, Germany, Spain, Thailand, Austria, Hungary, and of course, Canada. Chris has been performing professionally on drums and percussion instruments for over 35 years. As an active freelancer, he continues to perform all styles of music including Latin, rock, jazz, funk, vocal/choral, African, classical, big band, soul, country and blues.
Her musical career began in Caracas, Venezuela at the age of 13 when a professional band began rehearsing in her apartment building’s basement. The group of musicians let her sing one day for a laugh – only to hire her on the spot. From there she began singing everything from folk music to rock while writing her own music and learning to play drums, congas and guitar. By the time she was 15, Susana had won best singer at The Festival of New Music in Caracas, earned a scholarship at the Roland Learning Centre of Music and was playing four nights a week at local nightclubs. By 22 she was one of the hottest acts in the Caracas nightlife, where people lined up around the block to watch her perform her unique mix of Latin, Anglo pop and rock. In the meantime she did back up vocals for famous Latin singers like Venezuelan artists Frank Quintero and Kiara and collaborated with Pedro Castillo when she was Signed by Airo Music.
BRIAN HARDING
TROMBONE
GEETA DAS
TRUMPET
ADRIAN SMITH
TRUMPET
Brian is a long time veteran on the Vancouver music scene. While living and studying in New York he performed with The Temptations, Choco Orta, Joan Rivers and Luis Miguel. He has toured Canada, USA and Europe with a variety of groups and spent 6 years as the Music Manager for Princess Cruises traveling the world running the onboard music department and leading the Show band. Locally Brian has performed hundreds of concerts with a multitude of bands including; The HardRubber Orchestra, V.E.J.I., Dal Richards Orchestra, Roots Roundup, 54-40, and many more.
Adrian has been one of the go to Trumpet players on the Vancouver Latin and jazz scene for years. Adrian teaches and is also the leader of his own group "Adrian Smith Trio / Quartet" where he plays trumpet & flugelhorn. Adrian released a Jazz Album called "McSmooth" which features 11 of his own original Compositions.The list of artists he has performed with is long and include The Coasters, The Platters, Mary Wilson, Ed Thigpen, Michael Kaeshammer and many more...
Vancouver born Guyanese, Geeta Das, is a very diverse multi-instrumentalist. She has been studying, teaching, and performing locally and internationally for over 25 years and has had the humbling opportunity of working with countless local legends and world renowned artists alike. Geeta has had the honour of performing with: UK singer/songwriter Adele, rapper Kanye West, UK pop/rock sensation The Heavy, historic big band The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Iranian/Persian pop star Mazyar Fallahi, and many more.
DANIEL AVILAN
VOCALS
