Los Tamales Jazz Band

Los Tamales is best known for their dynamic, energetic sound. Whether you're looking for intense, powerful music to get people dancing or subtle background music to complement other activities, Los Tamales is equipped to handle any situation.

CUSTOMIZE OUR SOUND: Select the style of music that you'd like us to play. Collaborate with us to curate a set list that matches the theme and energy of your event. Sometimes, people will hire a band expecting them to play at a certain energy level, only for their expectations to be completely unfulfilled. The last thing you want for your event is for a performance to be too loud or too soft. Rest assured that when you book an event with Los Tamales, we'll communicate with you thoroughly to ensure that your expectations are understood.

RELIABLE, PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS: Musicians unfortunately have a bad reputation for arriving late and/or unprepared to events they're hired for. Unlike many of our competitors, Los Tamales enforces strict standards of professional conduct. We promise to take your event just as seriously as you do.

EXTENSIVE PREPARATION: Oftentimes, musicians will show up to events with minimal practice time or preparation. Even groups that appear trustworthy at first may turn out to treat your special event as just any other boring day. On the other hand, the musicians in Los Tamales will plan, practice, and rehearse meticulously for your event, ensuring that our performance exceeds your expectations.

EXPERT AUDIO ENGINEERING: Los Tamales has audio engineers on-board, meaning that you don't have to contract another third party service to handle our sound. We take responsibility for audio equipment in the vast majority of our performances.

Led by trumpeter and composer Cesar Vazquez, Los Tamales was founded in 2022 from the roots of the Moraine Valley Community College Jazz Combo. The band initially gained recognition for their dynamic arrangements that blended modern, popular songs with the dynamic, improvisation-centric arrangements of jazz music. Since then, the group has expanded its repertoire to include original funk, Latin jazz, and jazz-pop charts. In 2024, Los Tamales released their debut album Tamales a La Carte, which has aired on prominent jazz radio stations like 90.9 WDCB Jazz in Chicago.

Los Tamales highlights the most danceable aspects of jazz music with a fierce rhythm section, a powerful and precise horn section, and a multi-talented vocalist. Los Tamales’ greatest strength is the diversity of their sound. The band is fluent in many variants and derivatives of jazz from around the world. The band has specialized set lists for New Orleans jazz, Latin jazz, Japanese jazz, funk, and more.

We typically take responsibility for most audio equipment. Our band is very customizable, so our exact needs may vary. Here are a few things that we need for every performance:

1. Nearby source of electricity: Los Tamales typically needs 4-8 outlets depending on the size of the band.

2. At minimum, a 9 foot x 9 foot space: Less space means less room for musicians. We can work with smaller performance areas as long as there's communication.

3. Amps/speakers: Our musicians are self-sufficient for the vast majority of their audio equipment. For large venues, we may bring additional monitors and speakers to help project our sound. If there is anything we can't provide, we'll make sure to communicate that as soon as possible.