Yissy & Bandancha at San Jose Jazz Summer Fest at Plaza De César Chávez

In drummer Yissy García’s Bandancha, trumpet and acoustic percussion meet keyboards, bass guitar and turntables for an exhilarating fusion. While the Bandancha sound is rooted in the bandleader’s native Cuba’s indigenous, African and jazz traditions, it expands to R&B, funk and electronic music while held together by dynamic virtuosic performances.

Amidst a bandstand full of all-star musicians, García made a lasting impression during the closing hours of 2016 Summer Fest as a member of Jane Bunnett’s dynamic all-women Maqueque band. She dazzled with her polyrhythmic brilliance and occasional singing....

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In drummer Yissy García’s Bandancha, trumpet and acoustic percussion meet keyboards, bass guitar and turntables for an exhilarating fusion. While the Bandancha sound is rooted in the bandleader’s native Cuba’s indigenous, African and jazz traditions, it expands to R&B, funk and electronic music while held together by dynamic virtuosic performances.

Amidst a bandstand full of all-star musicians, García made a lasting impression during the closing hours of 2016 Summer Fest as a member of Jane Bunnett’s dynamic all-women Maqueque band. She dazzled with her polyrhythmic brilliance and occasional singing.

The daughter of percussionist Bernardo García (a co-founder of the supergroup Irakere and a member of trumpeter Arturo Sandoval’s band), she grew up attending her father’s rehearsals and gravitated towards his instruments of choice before reaching her teens. Classical percussion elementary school studies at Manuel Saumell School and high school coursework at Amadeo Roldán Conservatory followed.

Already straddling worlds by her mid-teens, she was a soloist with the National Symphonic Orchestra of Cuba in 2002 and an award winner in the 2005 JoJazz International Festival for young jazz musicians. Debuting Bandancha in 2012 and joining Maqueque two years later, Garcîa has become an international ambassador for a music that’s on the vanguard while based firmly in the past.

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