Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library hosts popular Latin band Son Venezuela

The Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library is hosting a free Latin music concert by the 9-piece Lawrence-based band Son Venezuela on Sunday, October 1, starting at 3 p.m. They will play tunes from across the Caribbean including salsa from Puerto Rico, merengue from Dominican Republic, cumbia from Colombia, tambora from Venezuela, Afro-Cuban rhythms, murga from Panama and calypso from Antilles.

Son Venezuela has been a Latin music ambassador in America’s heartland for more than 30 years and has been an important force in the development of the Latin Community in Kansas. They were recently inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame (KSMHF).

The band has continuously brought Latin culture, through music and dance, to clubs, festivals, concert halls and private events all over the Midwest and beyond. Kansas City’s entertainment journal The Pitch Weekly called Son Venezuela “The premier Latin groove ensemble in the area,” and their readers agree. Son Venezuela has been voted best Latin/World music act six times.

Throughout the 31 years Son Venezuela has flourished the band has undergone very few lineup changes. Their original bass player Stanley Sheldon (2012 KSMHF inductee) was a member of Peter Frampton’s band. Current conga player Fernando Reynoso was formerly with pioneer Kansas Latin band Caribe (2017 KSMHF inductee).

Music for a Sunday Afternoon is a concert series that has been running for more than 45 years at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.