Mexico’s jazz scene bristles with genre-bending bands, and one of the most illustrious and innovative is Troker. Founded in Guadalajara in 2004, the group has honed a potent fusion of jazz, funk, DJ scratching, and mariachi horns. Stocked with world-class improvisers from different regions of Mexico, Troker creates music that sounds like a soundtrack for a surreal action film, with mesmerizing rhythms and arresting juxtapositions. A sensational live act, it’s the only Mexican band selected to perform in elite international showcases in Europe such as Jazzahead! and WOMEX. Expect the unexpected.

Subharmonic is the sound of the Bay Area’s Jazz Mafia horns, unleashed by heavy rhythmic grooves. By using any means necessary, Subharmonic’s multi-instrumentalists create the sound of everything from a futuristic mega-orchestra to 1920s Cotton Club dubstep by sampling, looping, layering and manipulating an array of brass instruments and beyond. Trombone, trumpet, sax, clarinet and tuba all lock in with remixed electro/acoustic rhythms from Max Roach and Charles Mingus to brass/jazz remakes of Joni Mitchell, Radiohead, J Dilla or Prince, as well as original compositions by Adam Theis.

Following the performance is a Q & A on Mexico’s contemporary music scene, moderated by producer/musician/educator Greg Landau. Greg has produced eight Grammy nominated records and has produced over 80 CDs with artists including Los Cojolites, Maldita Vecindad, and Laura Rebolloso, among others. He has worked with Mono Blanco, and participated in the Canto Epico al FSLN with Amparo Ochoa and Guadalupe Pineda in the 1980s.

This engagement of Troker is funded through Southern Exposure: Performing Arts of Latin America, a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.