Grupo Bakkan

Grupo Bakkan is salsa band from the San Francisco Bay Area founded in 2000. The group started as a local band by the name of “Toni Nieto y Su Orquestra”, and has since grown to become one of the most recognizable names in the Bay Area Latin music scene, and have produced 2 CDs– “A Escondidas” in 2002 and the hit single “Me Quieres Olvidar” in 2010.

Grupo Bakkan is composed of five primary members: Toni Nieto, Nelson Vasquez, Jaime “Guapi”, Jaime Guapi Jr., and Edwin Guapi and the group has performed along with musicians from all over the world, including Peru, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Colombia.

The name of their group, “Bakkan”, comes from a word used in Cali, Colombia where people use the word to describe a good mood or feeling (“party time”). Their musical style reflects this, and is a high energy mix of sounds from across the Caribbean and Latin America.

The group performs regularly at events across the Bay Area, and has also toured in countries around the world including Puerto Rico, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and Mexico.