Bacilos

Bacilos sounds like those moments when Latin pop lets itself be carried away by the rhythm without losing the essence of folk. Their music blends acoustic guitars with arrangements that jump between Cuban son, vallenato, and even a touch of bossa, but always with melodies that stick in the memory. It's not just the sound: there's something in the way Jorge Villamizar sings —with that mix of humor and nostalgia— that makes songs like Tabaco Y Chanel or Mi Primer Millón sound like stories told among friends, even when the topic is the music industry.It all started in the hallways of the University of Miami. Villamizar, Colombian, teamed up with Brazilian André Lopes and Puerto Rican José Javier Freire to play at student parties and bars.

The original name, Bacilos Búlgaros, was a nod to a homemade remedy from Villamizar's grandmother and also to the word 'vacilón', but when they signed with Warner in 2000, they were simply Bacilos. Their first self-titled album, later reissued after an independent release, led them to open for Alejandro Sanz's tour in 2002 and earned two Latin Grammy nominations that same year.The definitive leap came with Caraluna in 2002. Recorded between Miami and Brazil with violins by Pedro Alfonso, the album won the Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album in 2003 and placed Caraluna at number 16 on the Billboard Latin chart.