La Mancha Cuarteto

La Mancha was born when Clara Sinou, a French violinist and singer, arrived in Mexico after many years in New Orleans, where she both studied music at university and performed in jazz clubs across the city. In Mexico, she discovered son huasteco, a genre she has passionately pursued ever since, and met Héctor Luna (guitar) and Leo Cortés (double bass), two leading musicians from Mexico City's gypsy jazz scene, at a jazz manouche festival. She later connected with Alex Daniels (accordion), a composer and multi-instrumentalist deeply rooted in traditional music.

Founded by Clara in 2021, La Mancha developed a sound that brings gypsy jazz, traditional Mexican music, and the spirit of New Orleans into conversation, with each musician contributing their own musical heritage and personality. The result is a spirited musical journey where swinging rhythms intertwine with huasteca melodies, where a jazz standard can suddenly become a cumbia or a bolero, and where all these influences merge into something that feels at once organic, festive, and unmistakably original.

Since its founding, La Mancha has performed:

• at emblematic venues such as the Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris and the Museo Tamayo;
• at festivals including the Festival Internacional de Jazz de Irapuato, the Ejazz Puebla, and the Fiesta del Huapango;
• and in the leading jazz clubs of Mexico City.

Their debut album was selected among the “50 Best Physical Albums of 2023” by the national newspaper La Razón, and in 2025 the band received the ENARTES grant and released three new singles. The group is currently developing new repertoire and preparing a second album focused more strongly on original compositions.