Santa Lucia

Young, fresh mix of Latin Rock, West Coast Funk and Cuban Groove

Santa Lucia started with a vision to create an exciting sound that evokes the early days of Latin Rock (Santana, War, Chakachas) while adding their own blend of funk and rock with a young and fresh mix. The music ventures off to a lot of different areas with an addictive combination of Nuyorican boogaloo, West Coast style funk and the ever present Cuban grooves.

Santa Lucia formed in Vancouver at the end of 1999. At the heart of the group is Nicaraguan singer/songwriter German Cantillo. German started out in San Francisco finding success playing in a few different Latin funk groups. He moved to Canada in 1991 and toured throughout the praries with a group called Sanzibar, the biggest cumbia-rock band in Winnipeg. At the time he was playing alongside other bands playing traditional Latin music like Cumbias, Salsa, nortenas, etc. German started to write his own music but was never heard by his band members because they were too busy playing covers! He continued to produce his vision of Santa Lucia, a Latin sound unlike any other.

German moved to Vancouver in search of the right blend of musicians to help bring his vision to life. This wasn't easy for the Latin boy living in Canada, but through friendship, talent and hard work he found the missing pieces in long time friends Byron Russell (sax), Mario Zetina (latin percussion) and Glenn Kruger (drums).

Together they released a five song EP in 2001 with producer Darryl Neudorf (Sarah McLachlan, Neko Case). Vancouver's "Latino Soy" Spanish radio program (96.1FM) gave the songs some airplay time that was met with great enthusiasm. They are currently riding high on the success of their 2004 release "The Streets - Las Calles", which was recorded at Turtle Studios in White Rock BC and produced by Larry Anchell (Nickelback, Pearl Jam).

Santa Lucia is a seven-piece band. They can expand to nine pieces (five horns) in order to showcase the group's strong, edgy, horn driven style.

German Cantillo, lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, is the leader of Santa Lucia. German has played in many Latin funk ensembles over the years. He is educated in songwriting development, and has completed numerous singing/vocal-training courses. German has also taken private flute lessons form Toronto's Al Cooton.

Byron Russell, alto sax/clarinet, was born in Richmond, B.C. where he began his musical training at a young age specializing in jazz. Byron is a multi-talented player, adding piano and clarinet, which he plays with his jazz ensemble. He has been in Santa Lucia from the beginning, leading the horn section that adds punch to the music.

Mario Zetina, Latin percussion, was born in Guatemala near the famous Mayan ruin of Tikal. He attended the National Conservatory of Music, then played in a pop/rock band, Opus 3, which won an award as Guatemalan Band Of The Year in 1975. In the late 70's he played on cruise ships in the Caribbean. After immigrating to Canada in '82, he co-founded Salsa Brava and Flamenco Heresy and led a trio, Son del Sur. Mario played on Charlotte Diamond's Juno award winning children's album, Ten Carrot Diamond. Mario has performed at most of Vancouver's festivals, including Expo '86, the Folk Festival and the Jazz Festival.

Richard Brown, drums, percussion and vocals. Richard is a talented and versatile drummer who has worked with many talented artists throughout Canada and the US. People like Suzie McNeil, Big Sugar, Jimmy Bowskill, Ivanna Santilli, Adam Solomon, The Arsenal Band, Carlos Morgan, Katie Murphy, Lazo, and many more. He also performed in the film Glitter starring Mariah Carey, and on the television show Soul Food with Debra Cox. Richard's infectious grooves are keeping the dance floors packed where Santa Lucia performs.

Ryan Conroy is a Montreal born bassist/songwriter. He studied upright bass at the U of Alberta and shifted back to electric bass to further studies into urban music, in particular the funk sounds of the '70s. As a bass player he is known for a mighty deep pocket, for old-school grooves and for using a variety of techniques and effects. As a songwriter and producer he is known for crafting cutting edge urban music, combining old- school vibe with modern formats.

Brad Muirhead - Trombone

Cherry Ng - Tenor Sax

Ralph Eppel - Trombone

Ryan Maskell - Trumpet