Caña Dulce y Caña Brava
About this Artist
Made up mostly by women, Caña Dulce y Caña Brava are exceptional performers of son jarocho, a traditional Mexican expression who combines music, dance and poetry. With a deep connection to tradition, the group sang poetic messages with a feminine perspective, offering a unique show within the traditionally male-dominated scene of music performers. Thanks to their dedication, innovation and perseverance, the group has established itself as a benchmark for son jarocho, bringing innovation to traditional Mexican music.
Caña Dulce y Caña Brava delivers a unique sound composed on top by the poetry and harmony of their voices, floating around the vibrations of the horse jaw, the mystical harmony of the harp and the strums of the jaranas, while the beat is foot-tapped on stage and flashy colors emanate from their dresses. The music virtuosity of its members are deeply rooted in the jarocho tradition, where all of them have learned directly from ancient masters and have developed and proven their skills both at national and international stages.
Proudly representing their culture around the world since 2007, the group has been invited to perform in South, Central and North America, as well as Europe, Africa and Asia. They have also collaborated with well-known artists such as Lila Downs, Jorge Drexler and La Santa Cecilia, and are commonly invited to represent Mexico in Cultural Diplomatic missions, such as the World International Expo in Dubai 2022.
Adriana Cao Romero and Raquel Palacios Vega started the group in 2007, motivated by their passion for music, their lifelong friendship, and their desire to create a son jarocho group with a feminine perspective. They took the name from a song by Patricio Hidalgo, “La Caña”, where it emphasizes the duality of the sugar cane, an asset commonly cultivated in the region of Veracruz, that offers the sweet of its taste, but the martyrdom of its harvest. The name “Caña Dulce y Caña Brava” (Sweet cane, brave cane), seemed befitting as it served as an anchor to their land of origin, filling them with memories of their childhood and even a bit of nostalgia.
The son jarocho tradition is a story about migration that started in the region of Veracruz, the land where Spanish and African arrived to the American continent 500 years ago and eventually coexisted with the Native populations. The mix of these cultures provoque the rise of a new human expression, synthesized as son jarocho. The songs of this tradition, called “sones”, have been perpetuated throughout the years by oral transmission and are still alive thanks to dedicated musicians, dancers and poets. Caña Dulce y Caña Brava are now tradition-bearers with the mission of continuing the echo of sounds and sentiments that came together so long ago, adding their own sentiments and composing new verses to bring a contemporary - and feminine - perspective. The audiences will have a unique opportunity to listen to this music from outstanding performers who in the near future will be recognized as masters - maestras in their own right - of the son jarocho tradition.