Ska, reggae and fusion group
Guagua Band is a Gran Canaria ska, reggae and fusion outfit combining horns, a rock base and Latin rhythms within the islands’ mestizo scene.
Muzikalia documents Guagua Band’s birth in Gran Canaria in September 2007. The 2015 line-up includes Octavio Marrero, Fernando Romero, David Pérez, Néstor Guedes, Raúl Ravelo, Paulo Díaz and Aristides Sosa. By then the group had released the EPs Al Calentito, recorded and produced by Osinori Cabrera at Noda Records, and La Búsqueda, recorded and produced by Juan Jesús Guedes and mastered at PKo in Madrid.
Its relevance lies in representing a mestizo line in Canarian popular music, where ska and reggae intersect with funk and Latin music. The horn-section format differentiates it within the catalogue and links Gran Canaria urban culture with globally circulating dance repertories.
The group’s own profile defines its music as a crossroads, dominated by reggae and ska but also including Latin music and funk. The trombone and trumpet presence allows a reading of mestizo ska closer to street celebration than to a closed rock-band format.
Its transmission rests on EPs, concerts and listening platforms. Within Canarias Historia, the entry documents the presence of contemporary ska-reggae in Gran Canaria alongside more visible rock, pop or folk scenes.
The project begins in Gran Canaria.
The first EP is released.
The second EP is released.
Tenerife
Since the twentieth century
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Gran Canaria
First performance in 1969; first album in 1970
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Gran Canaria
Active between 1965 and 1972; Ciclos was released in 1974
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