Or, like these musicians, who left the Caribbean for Europe…

Their music has a bit of a reggaeton edge to it, but the band Kuenta i Tambu is not from Panama, or Puerta Rico.. It’s from the island of Curacao.

Kuenta i Tambu means stories and drums in Curacao’s Papiamento language, but founder, Roël Calister, who is from the island, didn’t start it there. You see, Curacao is a Dutch protectorate, so there’s a regular flow between Amsterdam- and that’s where the band, which goes by the acronym KiT formed 9 years ago.

Now though, Calister and Kit are back in Curacao where they are combining the island’s traditional rhythms with European electronic music. You can hear that mix of old style singing and new style beat on this track: La Senora.

If you’re in NY next weekend, and want to see Curacao dance music live, KiT will be taking the stage as part of Globalfest, playing music from their debut US recording Tamboutronic. We’ll leave you with one more taste of it, a track called Lightswitch. What better way to raise the temperature on this frigid day than getting the heart pumping and the feet moving, huh?