Prince Edward Island based Latin outfit Montuno Cubano releases its new single “Baila Mi Guaracha” out now, ahead of a summer run of shows that includes headline appearances at Stratford Summer Music and Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. Led by Santiago de Cuba born songwriter, singer and requinto player Jorge Luis Peña Acosta, the track draws on the vibrant guaracha tradition, a style built for infectious rhythm, spirited vocals, and an irresistible pull toward the dance floor.
The song’s path mirrors Peña’s own journey across borders. Originally written while he was performing in Spain, “Baila Mi Guaracha” took on new resonance once he settled in Canada, prompting him to revisit and rerecord it for a wider, more connected world. “The world is changing, so I changed the song and recorded it again to engage people living in today’s world,” Peña says. The result reframes what began as a regional dance tune into something closer to a global musical invitation, built around the idea that once the music starts, people from every background find the same rhythm.
That international spirit deepened in the studio. Recording at Crabbe Road Productions in Prince Edward Island, producer Sergey Varlamov helped shape new ways to draw audiences directly into the song, adding an enthusiastic call and response shout of “¡Guaracha!” designed to unite crowds at festivals and dance halls. Varlamov and Peña also wove the names of different countries into the performance, reinforcing the song’s underlying message that music moves past language, geography, and culture.
For Peña, that message carries personal weight. “People are always asking me about my family in Cuba and how they are doing,” he explains. “Music and dance have always helped people through difficult times. That is true in Cuba, and it is true everywhere.” It is a philosophy he distills into a simple, favourite turn of phrase, playing on the shared root of the English and Spanish words for optimism: no matter what is happening in the world, he says, he chooses optimismo over pesimismo.
“Baila Mi Guaracha” arrives on the heels of real momentum for the project. Montuno Cubano’s debut album, ‘Frágil de Cristal,’ released in October 2025, earned coverage from outlets including Tinnitist, Cashbox Canada, Canadian Beats and FindYourSounds, introducing audiences to a sound built around the close sibling harmonies of Jorge and his brother, who have performed together for twenty-five years as Hermanos Peña. On “Baila Mi Guaracha,” every instrument was performed by Peña and producer Sergey Varlamov, a tight two-person collaboration that shaped the track from the ground up.
Peña grew up on a coffee plantation in the mountains outside Santiago de Cuba, a fitting origin for an artist whose band takes its name from the montuno, the fast, bold, largely improvised closing section of a Cuban son. Now a Permanent Resident of Canada based in Prince Edward Island, he has built Montuno Cubano into a genuine bridge between his Cuban roots and his Maritime home, blending salsa, bolero son, guaracha and more into a repertoire that feels equally rooted and outward looking.
At its heart, “Baila Mi Guaracha” is about more than getting people on their feet. “If the song gets people dancing and smiling, and they know people in other countries are enjoying that same positive experience, then it has done exactly what I hoped it would do,” Peña says. “We want to live in a happy world.”
Tour Dates:
July 11, Stratford Summer Music, Music Barge, Stratford, ON
July 12, Summer Music in the Garden, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON
July 14, Drom Taberna, Queen West, Toronto, ON
July 21, New Glasgow Resort, New Glasgow, PEI
July 27, Kensington Rail Station, Kensington, PEI
September 2, “Montuno Cubano: Bringing the Heat of Latin Music,” The Guild, Charlottetown, PEI
September 11, “The Taste of Tantramar,” Levee on the Lake, Sussex, NB
October 10, “Montuno Cubano: Cuban Soul, Maritime Spirit,” Scott MacAulay Theatre, College of Piping, Summerside, PEI
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