Photo: Cochemea Gastelum, multi-insttrumentalist
Cochemea performed to a full house at the Casbah on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. The band is headed by Cochemea Gastelum, its leader and namesake, who is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and visual artist. Cochemea performed songs from all three of the group’s albums: All My Relations (2018), Vol. II: Baca Sewa (2021), and Vol. III: Ancestros Futuros (2025). The alto saxophone, electric saxophone, flute, vocals, electric piano, prophet synthesizer, and an array of percussion instruments, including congas, bongos, hand drums, shakers, and chimes played by master musicians produced rhythms rooted in Native American, African, and Latin origins. Concertgoers swayed, danced, head bobbed, and soaked up the vibes, sounds and rhythms. One listener described the music to this writer as “a good vibe, joyful, giving a sense of being alive and happiness.”
At Cochemea's performance at the Portland Jazz Festival on Tuesday, March 10, "a call and response started with a woman singing and chanting along with his music.”
Cochemea Gastelum, a native of San Diego of Yaqui Native American ancestry, left his hometown at the age of 18 to study music at Berklee College of Music in Boston. After studying a few years at Berklee, Cochemea returned to San Diego and began his professional music career playing in several local bands. He eventually joined Robert Walters and the Twentieth Congress. “Cheme,” as he is called by family, fellow musicians and friends, decided to leave San Diego again in his late 20s to further his career and settled in New York City. He eventually moved to Brooklyn where he joined Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, a successful funk and retro-soul band produced by Dap Tones Record Company.
Sharon Jones, the lead singer, unfortunately developed pancreatic cancer several years after Cochemea joined the band; however, the band continued to perform though her illness until her passing in 2017. He has also played with Archie Shepp, a well-known and influential jazz saxophonist from the 60s and the “popular rap duo Run the Jewels” (reported by Art Hughes, Native America Calling of Friday, January 30, 2026, Native Playlist: Ya Tseen and Cochemea, www.nativeamericacalling.com). The Dap-Kings also played at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony in 2017.
Cochemea’s Casbah performance was one of several stop on the band’s tour happening on the East Coast, West Coast, and Vancouver, B.C. from March 2026 until June 27, 2026.
