The band

They've played with Nolosé

Nolosé Salsa is a salsa orchestra founded in Switzerland in 2004: 16 musicians from Cuba, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Poland and Switzerland.

In 2018, Cuban singer Haila Mompié takes the stage at the Bogotá Timba Fest, carried by an orchestra that has rehearsed fifteen of her songs in just a few weeks: Nolosé.

Sooner or later, an orchestra crosses paths with a lot of people. More than 60 musicians have played with Nolosé, whether for a single record, a tour or several seasons. Some of them are among the finest players of their instrument.

Renowned guests

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  Hector Martignonpiano

  Two Grammy nominations as a bandleader and eight years as Ray Barretto's pianist and arranger. He has composed for Nolosé and played with the orchestra as far afield as Greece, on the 2015 tour.

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  Haila Mompiévocals

  Once a singer with Bamboleo and the voice of Azúcar Negra, she sings on ‘La rumba soy yo’, winner of the 2001 Latin Grammy for Best Folk Album. At the 2018 Bogotá Timba Fest she sang fifteen of her songs with Nolosé.

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  Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayortimba orchestra

  The Havana timba orchestra led by Maykel Blanco, who founded the city's Festival de la Salsa. Nolosé shared the stage with the band on its 2017 visit to Switzerland.

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  Christos Rafalidesvibraphone

  A New York vibraphonist whose credits include Wynton Marsalis at Lincoln Center and recordings with Christian McBride. He wrote pieces for Nolosé and toured Greece with the band in 2015.

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  Juan Munguíatrumpet

  Lead trumpet with Irakere, Chucho Valdés's orchestra, for fifteen years. He went on to play across Europe and spent two years teaching at the Swiss Jazz School in Bern.

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  Edwin Sanzpercussion

  He came up through Grupo Madera in Caracas and went round the world with Rodrigo y Gabriela on the ‘Area 52’ tour. These days he teaches percussion in Geneva.

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  Manon Müllenerpiano

  She won the 2026 Swiss Jazz Award, presented at JazzAscona. At seventeen she went to Havana to study Afro-Cuban music; on some projects she sits in alongside Nolosé's pianist.

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  André Hahnebass

  He founded the No Square Quartet and the Nova Jazz festival in Yverdon-les-Bains, which he has run since 2015.

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  Zacharie Ksyktrumpet

  He plays in the Léon Phal Quintet and trained at the Centre des Musiques Didier Lockwood, then at HEMU, the Lausanne conservatoire.

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  Mambi Eulogio Arguellescongas

  Born in Havana, he trained on the batá drums. His Montreux Jazz Festival biography credits him with a European tour alongside Chucho Valdés and Adalberto Álvarez.

The list, instrument by instrument

Pieced together from memory and the archives, it grows longer each time an old friend turns up.

Vocals

Aline Sumi · Isabelle Blaser · Vanessa Coquoz · Luca Manotta · Ondina · Susana Orta Lopez · Paula Capona · Ivonne Gonzalez · Pilar Velasquez · Katyhuska Eugenia Robinson Gomez · Dampierret Mesa Martinez · Alejandro Silva Fayat · Vladimir Leroy

Piano

Lucien Behrens · Michael Fleiner · Frédéric Babey · Manon Müllener · Anissa Adelit · Hector Martignon

Bass

Sébastien Pittet · Jean-Pierre Schaller · Sonja Bossart · Delmis Aguilera · André Hahne · Orland Oliva · Tiziano Tomasetti · Pierre Kuthan

Trumpets

Denis Tercier · Carlos Velazques · Leonardo Fabio Alfonso Garrido · Diego Bustamante · Joseph Larrotta · Romario Franco · Zacharie Ksyk · Simon Pellaux · Maxime Van Heghe · Ludovic Lagana · Menzel Munzke · Bodo Maier · Juan Munguía

Trombones

Vincent Harnois · William Jacquemet · Michele Campo · Julian Ardila

Saxophones

Yann Altermath · Alain Kissling · Eric Animan · Philippe Helfer · Jérôme Thomas · Javier Vargas · Diego Sosa Alvarez · Louis Billette · Mauricio Salamanca

Flute

Xavier Paternot

Percussion

Julio D'Santiago · Raphael Nick · Mambi Eulogio Arguelles · Edwin Sanz · Matthis Pellaux · Christian Ramel

Vibraphone

Christos Rafalides

Booking for a festival? The festival page lists where the band has played; the press kit is in the pro area.