Grupo Niche « Niche Disco Tour »

On 15 May 2026, The Palace Theatre in Calgary hosts Grupo Niche and their Niche Disco Tour. Founded in Bogotá in 1979 by composer and bandleader Jairo Varela with trombonist Alexis Lozano, the Colombian salsa orchestra grew in Cali and forged a sound anchored in a tight horn section, Afro-Caribbean percussion and multiple lead voices. Their repertoire moves between salsa dura and more romantic cuts, with lyrics that sketch city life and the Pacific coast. Songs like Buenaventura y Caney, Cali Pachanguero, Una aventura and Busca por dentro have become staples, now carried by arrangements that keep the pulse sharp for live performance.

Across the decades, singers have rotated, but the collective choral writing and rhythmic framework remain the group’s backbone. Since Varela’s passing in 2012, musical direction has been led by trumpeter José Aguirre, maintaining the band’s focus on its salsa roots while touring across the Americas and Europe. In Calgary, the tour brings classics and deeper cuts from a catalog that connects stories, neighborhoods and celebrations, performed by a large ensemble where brass, percussion and voices drive the groove.