Celebrating 10 years of La-33

10 years of La-33

By Oscar Montagut

Bogota, Colombia – November, 2011

This year the Colombian band La-33 is celebrating 10 years of playing old-style salsa. After all this time there is an enviable balance for this salsa group. The band has recorded three albums, sold more than 40.000 copies independently, and toured many countries like Mexico, Venezuela, Poland, Morocco, Denmark, Canada, Italy, England, Ecuador, France, Spain, Germany, Japan, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Romania, India, Norway and the United States among many others. La-33 has performed in the most prestigious festivals in the world with salsa and Latin legends like Buena Vista Social Club, Alfredo de la Fé, Yuri Buenaventura, Henry Fiol, Cheo Feliciano, Chucho Valdés, Los Van Van, Joe Arroyo, Orquesta Aragón, Ismael Miranda, and Orishas, just to mention a few.

Their songs are part of 20 compilations (including the prestigious Putumayo Records and Sony Music Greece), and several movies like “Paraiso Travel” and “Perro no Come Perro”. So far the band has played more than 1,000 concerts in the five continents and it is one of the few bands who sell a respectable number of CD copies monthly in store locations despite the mp3 download habits people have adopted nowadays.

The dreamers

I met Sergio and Santiago Mejia at Tayrona, an amazing natural park in Colombia, nine years ago. I was unpacking my bag to start putting up my tent when I saw a skinny, bearded guy sitting on an old hammock playing a bossanova song with an old guitar; this was Sergio Mejia, the director of La-33. By looking at him I noticed right away that this was a guy who was passionate about music. A quiet guy came to join Sergio in the impromptu jam session. This was Santiago, his brother, the pianist in La-33, who had a Colombian drum to complete the unexpected concert with no other audience but me. That week, in Tayrona park, I listened to them talk about their salsa project, the La-33 band. Sergio gave me a copy of the first home-made album of his band. I could not wait to listen to it. I grabbed my portable cd player and started listening to it right away. I remember my expression as I listened to it. I was astonished by the unique sound they produced. Although I did like their style I was not sure if they would seriously record that album, sell copies and play in different places. My attitude was a reflection of the times; we were in a decade where classical salsa had almost disappeared because of romantic salsa and reggaeton. Thinking about producing classical salsa seemed like an anticipated suicide. I enjoyed those vacation days with the Mejia brothers and some days later we said good-bye and good luck.

Two Children Playing to Be Stars

The Mejia brothers did not come from a musical dynasty. They were just like any other people who loved music and dreamed about being composers or super stars. Their father Humberto was really their first stimulus to feel music and start understanding and loving it. Santiago and Sergio were given a guitar and a tiple when they were seven years old. Humberto often played the organ with them close by and with their new instruments the Mejia brothers started their first set of simple gigs and jams. Santiago and Sergio’s parents were not a traditional musical family like many others in Colombia, but this was not a barrier to dreaming about going further in this difficult field.

They were 13 years old when they started watching the concerts of famous American and Latin-American rock stars on television. That rock period was enough to encourage them to dream about being superstars. So the brothers started a classic rock band which played Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Soda Stereo’s songs. Their first musical studies were at a private musical school called Federico Chopin. After one year of musical studies Sergio’s father brought them an electric guitar and a keyboard and since then their discipline for exploring music has not stopped.

Before the Success

While at the University of the Andes Sergio was part of a ska band called Sonora Cienfuegos, a kind of Latin ska band. He studied composition at this university for thirteen months. Sergio expected his teachers to teach him about composition but that did not happen, instead he learned more general ideas about music and composers. He quit the university program in the middle of the second year. During the last semester at this university he knew that he would leave this prestigious institution and start taking classes at Escuela Colombiana de Jazz (Jazz Colombian School). At the same time, Santiago started classes with the Cuban musician Eduardo Pineda, and the Colombian composer Ricardo Uribe. Santiago finished high school and registered in a graphic design program but he never stopped studying piano. At this moment Sergio began to develop an interest in Brazilian music and together they started listening to Colombian salsa groups like Fruko and other Colombian salsa musicians. This was their first foray into the world of salsa rhythm.

At one point Sergio decided to go to Canada because he thought that nobody in Colombia could make a living by being a musician. While in Canada, he took classes and learned about how to compose jazz and rock. Ironically it was in Canada that Sergio found more Latin music material to study salsa than in Colombia, so he began to send this material to his brother Santiago who, by that time was in love with piano-style salsa and a new movement of music that came out with representative bands like Curupira. After being out of his country for some time, Sergio began to feel an increasing sense of what it meant to be a Colombian. He realized that being away from Colombia for some time only made him feel more Colombian. In the midst of the wintery weather in Canada, salsa music made Sergio feel very special because it was his company and a beautiful way to get over the loneliness at times. He felt somewhat incomplete when Canadian people interested in music asked him about Colombian music and he did not have a complete landscape to share with them. So Sergio decided after a time to come back to the land he knew was in his heart.

La-33: Sergio Mejía–bass, director; Santiago Mejía-piano; Guillermo Celis-voice (guiro); David Cantillo-voice (maracas); Pablo Martínez-voice (percussion); Cipriano Rojas-congas; Juan David Fernandez-timbal; Diego Sánchez-bongoes; Juan Felipe Cárdenas-saxophone; Roland Nieto-trumpet; Vladimir Romero-trombone (white shirt); José Miguel Vega-Trombone. Photo: Cecilia Rocca

La-33, the Bogota Salsa Band

Back in Colombia, in 2001, the Mejia brothers started studying Colombian folklore and decided to start a band. Their headquarters was the traditional house at 33 street in the Teusaquillo neighbourhood of Colombia. They remember how they started with Guillermo Celis, the bands’ vocalist, to perform classical salsa songs like “Sandunguera”, “Me voy pal pueblo”, “La India Catalina” and “Son de la Loma”. Sergio remembers how Guillermo introduced the musicians with false first and last names. After a bit of back and forth, the new band completed its members and started playing a lot for little money, but they didn’t care, they preferred to play, that was the deal.

La 33, salsa band, used their music to express what was happening on the street. They believe that part of the success of the band is that they think out of the “square” interpretation of the salsa genre and propose a different way to think and play salsa music. To be from Bogota, to come from a non-Caribbean context and to have a rock background were really good advantages to reinterpret salsa, and this has been perhaps, the main hook that attracts people’s attention. La-33 offered people a different way to play salsa music. Playing salsa music in Bogota was a great advantage given that most salsa music hails from the Caribbean regions in Colombia. Santiago says: “The way you talk is expressed in the way you play the piano, it is the way you put emphasis on it, this is about printing your own label”.

The band was created in a really difficult time for classical salsa music, La-33’s particular salsa style was a unique blend of 70’s styles like boogaloo and descarga, both of which were not particularly in fashion at that time. During these years, romantic salsa was the hit in any corner of Colombia. La-33 not only had to struggle with their style but also with the huge selling crisis that the general music industry was experiencing. The mp3 download software on the internet abruptly decreased in-store music sales. La 33 was so brave because they bet everything they had that 70’s style salsa could still be sold in a time when others thought it might be crazy. Sergio and Santiago started going to visit recording companies in Bogota to offer their demo but the answer was always a “no”. The managers of those records companies argued that the style was very out of date. These managers proposed to the Mejia brothers that if they produced tropipop (a mixture of tropical and pop music) they would have a chance to record. So after these negative responses the Mejia brothers got tired of knocking on doors and decided to invest all they had to record their first album independently.

But it was only until May of 2003 when La-33 decided to present themselves to the Bogota audience as a formal band. The launch of their concert took place at the band’s branch, located at 33 street in the capital of the country.

The Ferocity of The Mambo Panther

The first album carried the same name of the band: La-33. Ten songs composed (most of them) by the brothers. The amazing hit “La Pantera Mambo” (The Mambo Panther) was an adaptation of the classical jazz piece “Pink Panther”, the soundtrack of the unforgettable American cartoon composed in 1964 by Henry Mancini. That song was enough to put La-33 on the map in any place around the main cities of Colombia. By themselves, the band started selling thousands of copies in a really short time.  The recording companies, which had rejected them before, began calling them to record and sign contracts, but it was too late, La-33 was not interested in having any relations with record companies – they were already independent.

The album was constantly selling copies in many places, few bands were doing this. Two months after the release, the song “La Pantera Mambo” turned into one of the most popular songs in Japan and Italy.

Before they reached the prestigious musical charts, the group played in downtown places in Bogota, but when their success flourished the band was offered to play in the most prestigious and fancy places around the city. What is really remarkable about this salsa band is that they achieved to put “La Pantera Mambo”, without paying one cent to radio stations, in the top as one of the most important Latin songs in the country. Listeners persistently called local radio stations to request the song, so much so that there was no other option than to play it, turning “La Pantera Mambo” into a song that could be heard in any part of the city. The same happened to “Manuela” another of La-33’s songs which was a hit in Cali, the capital of salsa, where it was played for more than 13 weeks on popular radio stations.

Their hits allowed them to start playing in many places frequently. This situation was incredible because this classical-style salsa band was taking the place of romantic salsa ones around the country. Several years passed before the second album came out. The Mejia brothers think that music is not necessarily about producing an album each year, it is more about feeling the music and composition, and letting it go with the flow, according to them, an album has its own rhythm to be created.

In 2005 the band was invited to the popular salsa festival “Salsa al Parque” in Bogota, the perfect place to show critics and spectators their talent and commitment to this genre. That same year their only album was considered one of the best albums by the Colombian magazine Semana. From that year on, they began nonstop tours around the country. During the same time, the band traveled to Cali, the paradise of salsa music, where they performed in an event called, the 1^st Encounter of Collectors, in the working neighbourhood of Cali. Later the band was invited to Quito, Ecuador to play at Seseribó, a salsa temple in that city. The success of La-33 was unbelievable. Everybody was talking about it. The songs on this album were being played in cafes, clubs, discos, and even shopping malls.

By 2006 La-33 had a busy schedule playing in places all over the country and for the first time the band went to Europe to present its show at three festivals; Latinoamericando Festival, Pole Pole Festival and the Antilliaanse Festival.

La-33 in concert. Photo: Kike Barona

Enjoy it! Just play it!

In 2007 the second album “Gozalo” (Enjoy it) was released. With this work La-33 kept its particular sound, built upon classical rhythms like descarga, bomba, montunos, and boogaloo. To this album, the Mejia brothers added fusions with porro, cumbia, and latin jazz. The opening song is called “Descarga”, a fast-beat song which reminds us of the sounds of Joe Cuba in his best moments. The refrain is absolutely catchy, “La descarga me llama” (The descarga calls me), full of flavor and color. Each song in this album has something unexpected, for example in the powerful “Quiereme Na’ma” (Love Me, Nothing Else), the trombone played at the same time as the pregon, by the vocalist Pablo Martínez, produces an emotional and touching result. The piece “Plinio Guzman” makes us remember the genius Colombian composer Lucho Bermudez, this song is an exquisite musical artwork with many elements from the Colombian rhythm porro. The influence of Latin jazz is obvious when you listen to “La tormenta” (The storm), “My Favourite Things”, even “Gozalo” (Enjoy it). Long solos of brasses and percussions are part of these songs.

With a new album in place the band increased the number of tours. During this year La-33 was invited to events like Festival Weltnacht, Festival Oye Afrika, Salsa Festival Torino, Mediterraneo Festival and Latin Village Festival among others. For the second time their work was enlisted in the best records of the year in Colombia.

La-33 is very united in terms of rehearsals and processes of composition. Normally the Mejia brothers bring to the rehearsal the structure of a new song. They often collaborate with the other musicians in the band so that their songs are composed together with their other band members. David Cantillo “Malpelo” is a creative singer who loves to participate in the process of composition and has found in this band the possibility to express his musical ideas. Each musician adds a special ingredient to the project. Some of them have a strong rock and roll, metal, funk and tropical background so they infuse their style into what they play, and this makes the band sound absolutely different constantly catching people’s attention. The timbale, for example, shows a lot of patterns used in rock and jazz and the piano breaks the classical tumbao pattern to make blues and soul lines.

In 2008 the band had an insanely full agenda. La-33 had concerts in many countries in Europe and Asia, presenting their show in the most prestigious festivals like Tempo Latino Festival, Amsterdam Roots Festival, Varsovia Salsa Festival and Fête de la Musique, just to mention a few. For the first time the band toured 8 cities in Japan. More and more festivals were part of La-33’s life. Having so many concerts to perform did not allow the band to produce more albums but they were always aware they had to keep working hard because people in many countries wanted more La-33.

Be Careful!

2009 was the year the band released its third album called “Ten Cuidado” (Be careful), a work which went back to the pure roots of the old-style of salsa, what some have called the “salsa dura” (hard salsa). This album is a return to the social message that music in the seventies had. The song, which has the same name as the album, is a good example of the intention to touch the mind of the listener; it is an instrumental piece with a great percussion structure, particular elements of flamenco and a mix of New York and Puertorican piano lines. In this opening song it is not necessary to have a completed lyric to understand what the message of the song is about, the refrain “Be Careful” is more than enough.

Maybe one of the most socially profound songs is “Conciencia Intranquila” (Unrested Conscience) which talks about fairness and society and uses the voices of social leaders as part of the background voices in the song. This album showcases the band’s like for boogaloo with two zesty songs “Funky Boogaloo” and “Mambo con Boogaloo”, musical pieces artistically played, enhancing this particular sound. But not only the boogaloo is honoured in this album, the classical salsa songs complete this work. “Salsa Resucitó” (Salsa resuscited) is a symbolic song full of melodical richness coming from the bass and the piano, the instruments played by the Mejia brothers. Continuing with the famous “La Pantera Mambo” the band recorded a salsa version of the well-known Sting’s song “Roxanne”. To record a song composed from another genre is always a risk because nobody ever knows what to expect. In this case the result was an moving interpretation performance by Pablo Martinez who infused the song with his high vocal tones and bluesy voice accompanied by a wonderful strong Latin beat arranged by Sergio who started this piece with a bolero, almost a ballad song, which slowly turns into a montuno and ends in an exciting descarga full of emotion and vibrancy.

This same year, the band continued playing in Europe, this time visiting new countries like Finland, Switzerland and Norway. La-33 was invited to more and more festivals like Roskilde Festival, World Village Festival and Jazz Sous Les  Pommiers Festival among many others.

The Mejia brothers think that three albums are a small amount of productions for a band which has toured more than any other in recent time in Colombia, but they are convinced that each album comes with its own rhythm and each song needs time to be ready to be composed, recorded and played. Santiago and Sergio are not worried about the length or the “catchiness” of the song, but about making music in a pure and free way, letting the sound and poetry come to them, for them this is the essential part of the musical creative process.

La-33. Compilations and CDs

Fame and Music

The name of the band is mentioned on many other prestigious music stages. In 2010, La-33 performed in the Great Concert of the World Bicentenary in India. Sooner or later Sergio had to go back to Canada to reencounter what he had left behind ten years ago, a land which had showed him how beautiful Latin music is. This time his reunion with Canada was not to listen to other musicians, but to show what he himself had learned since his first encounter with the colossal country. This time around in Canada, La-33 performed on some of the most prestigious stages, Harborfront Centre and the Montreal Jazz Festival. The rest of North America now had the chance to see the creators of “The Pantera Mambo” watching, listening and enjoying the descarga of these Colombian musicians in places like Sunfest and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion Stage in Chicago. That year La-33 received two Shock awards both associated with being the best band.

The Mejia brothers do not like when people refer to them as “famous” because they don’t think that they are. For them fame is a dangerous game where ego can win and put people down. They prefer to be normal people, people who go to the little store to buy simple things. They know how fame can turn out and because of this they try to maintain the life that they had before La-33 came about. They think that taking advantage of fame is nothing about being a real musician; music is more than popularity and money.

Projects and Dreams Come True

La-33 is working on a new album without any rush. They are independent and want to live that way without any kind of pressure. For now, after many concerts in different cities around the world including the Globalfest in New York, the band has achieved one of the most incredible outcomes a salsa orchestra can get; La-33 was invited to be one of the artists to record an album to pay tribute to the most representative salsa composer of all time, Tite Curet Alonso. This big project is sponsored by the Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, the same who produced the famous DVD “Encuentro” which brought the legends Ruben Blades, Juan Luis Guerra and Robi Draco Rosa together on the same stage. For Tite’s tribute the song chosen by La-33 is “Marejada Feliz” which was already recorded in San Juan and is now being mastered, an album that half of the world is waiting for.

One day, ten years ago, the Mejia brothers decided to create a band to play salsa in a different way. Years later I met Sergio again to know about the details of that dream that he had vividly spoke about when he was in that hammock in Tayrona Park, playing a montuno with his old guitar, in front of the sea. “I love to say things but in a constructive way, we, as Colombians, always criticise but we do not do anything to change, we have to say it but to propose something at the same time” says the director of La-33. Sergio, Santiago and La-33 will continue expressing their music in a constructive way giving salsa lovers a vibrant and touching sound, full of a particular taste in this rebirth salsa style. I do hope to see this project on the scene for many, many more years to come, constantly inspiring others to create and express. As La-33 says, “Gózalo!”, Enjoy it!

The Big Band Bogota at Jazz al Parque JazzFest

The Big Band Bogota 2011, A Road to Explore Colombian Jazz

For two consecutive years IDARTES (District Institute for Arts in Bogota) has presented the Big Band Bogota Project which was created for the first time last year to celebrate the 15^th anniversary of the International Jazz Festival “Jazz al Parque” in the city of Bogota. This is an experimental musical project in order to explore new sound possibilities of jazz music in Colombia. The project has consolidated into a great band that puts together recognized and young musicians who play an open and diverse repertoire of Colombian jazz. This brilliant idea is a way to create dialogue between artists of different ages in order to interchange knowledge and stimulate creation in areas including composition, arrangement and performance.

This time, the Big Band Bogota worked with different sounds, and implemented instruments which are not typical in jazz music like the accordion or tiple in order to reflect on other options of the jazz music creative process, improvisation and collective composition which are essential in this music genre. The repertoire for 2011 consisted of seven works, played by 21 soloists and more than 30 musicians. The Big Band Bogotá 2011 is an endless sound exploration to visualize new roads to musical destinies in Colombian jazz.

Report by Oscar Montagut – From Bogotá, Colombia – Sep 13^th, 2011

The composers (left to right) Alejandro Forero, Juan Carlos Padilla, Edson Velandia, William Maestre, Edy Martínez, Rafael Sandoval (conductor), Justo Almario, and Ricardo Uribe at the Country Club stage.

The Big Band’s Creators and Their Repertoire

The huge project was a reunion of real, virtuous, young, and worldwide recognized musicians. The director and conductor was Rafael Sandoval, a saxophonist and clarinettist who has participated, as a musician, in many bands like Magenta, Edy Martínez, and Nathalie Gampert. He played for Dade College Jazz Big Band in 2006 and 2007, and won the first place in the Jazz Colombian Composers competition of Big Bands in 2009.

For this opportunity the big band had seven invited composers representing different styles and concepts. With classical training and studies in jazz piano from the University of Miami, Ricardo Uribe was one of the participants in the 2011 edition of Big Band Bogota. He has been involved in different jazz projects around Colombia especially musical productions. For the festival show he created a work called “Suite” which consisted of three parts; currulao, porro and swing. The non-conventional instrument chosen was the harmonica, played by the virtuous Gregoire Maret.

The second composer was William Maestre, a Colombian pianist, composer and arranger who has been working in the field for more than 25 years. Currently he is a university professor and co-director of the Zaperoco band.  Mr. Maestre composed a piece called “Magenta” which contains some elements of Latin jazz and songo. The African percussion instrument Djembe was the chosen non-conventional instrument, played by Juan Carlos “Chongo” Puello for the solo part.

Another composer invited to the Big Band Bogota was Alejandro Forero, president of La Distritofónica Records and member of the bands Asdrubal and Meridian Brothers. He works as a composer for experimental animation and visual projects. For Jazz al Parque’s project Mr. Forero created a musical piece called “Quiebre” full of new textures and produced from the symbiosis between jazz and electronic sound. The instrument, used for the solo, was the electronics played by Eblis Álvarez.

Continuing with the list of committed composers, this year the Big Band Bogota was pleased to receive one of the most remarkable figures in Latin jazz history, Edy Martínez. Mr. Martínez has been nominated for Grammy Awards for working on albums like “Homenaje a Benny Moré” (Tribute to Benny Moré) with Tito Puentes, and “Unfinished Master Piece” with Eddie Palmieri. The ever talented arranger and director brought his powerful and emotional song “Celebration” to this event. For Martínez’s work, a vibraphone (played by Karen Bravo) was the instrument selected as the non-conventional one because this instrument is not typically used in Colombian jazz.

The young composer Edson Velandia was also part of the composition team. Edson is a musician from the town of Piedecuesta (Santander province in Colombia), who created a unique style called Rasqa. Mr. Velandia has recorded 9 albums including music for movies, theatre, dancing and radio. This year he composed “Sinfonía Municipal # 4” (Municipal symphony # 4), an original, dramatic and tense score which was listened to by the audience while observing the particular way Mr. Velandia conducted the big band. For the improvisation part, the non-typical jazz instruments were a Casiotone keyboard (played by Henry Rincón), and an Ipad (played by Daniel Bayona).

Juan Carlos Padilla, a talented self-taught musician, winner of national composition awards and a composer for soundtracks in Europe, brought to the festival a beautiful piece called “Aquarimantima” which combines elements from the popular pasillo rhythm and jazz to produce a profound and exquisite sound. His non-conventional instrument for the solo was the tiple, played by Alejandro Flórez.

To complete this Colombian jazz composition team, the project included the Colombian, Caribbean saxophonist Justo Almario. Graduated from Berkeley, Justo has played with music legends including Charles Mingus, Dave Grusin, Tito Puente, and Sergio Mendes. For Jazz al Parque the musician from Sincelejo composed a song called “Salvation Army” which shows his love for Caribbean music. Mr. Almario selected the accordion as the non-conventional instrument, played by Daniel Duarte.

Daniel Duarte playing Justo Almario’s song solo at the Country Club stage.

Beyond the Show

The Big Band Bogota 2011 presented three shows in different theatres around the city. This short tour was very successful in terms of audience’s attendance and acceptance. The idea with this great project is to consolidate a big band which can play a diverse repertoire in different cities in Colombia and other countries, showing the talent and creativity the Colombian musicians have as well as the beauty of the different kinds of Colombian music.

The Big Band Bogota’s Members

Basic Band: César Pérez-Drums; Jorge Sepulveda-Drums; Julián Gómez-Double-bass; Daniel Cobos-Bass; Camilo Vásquez-Guitar; Kike Mendoza-Guitar; Ricardo Gallo-Piano; Alex Morales-Percussion; Jorge Guzmán-Percussion; Juan Carlos “Chongo” Puello-Djembe.

Trumpeters: Juan Carlos Montiel-First trumpet; Juan Carlos Rey-Second trumpet; Pavel Susaeta-Third trumpet and soloist; Leonardo Ramirez-Forth trumpet.

Trombonists: Edilberto Lievano-First trombone; Vladimir Romero-Second Trombone; Álvaro Gómez-Third Trombone; Christian Hernandez-Forth Trombone.

Saxophonists: Cesar Medina-First saxophone alto and soprano; Adalber Gaviria-Second saxophone alto and soprano; Pablo Beltrán-First saxophone tenor; Juan Felipe Cardenas-Second saxophone tenor; William Rojas-Third saxophone tenor; Cesar Villamil-Saxophone baritone; Rafael Rodríguez-First flute; Edinson Velasquez-Second flute (Aquarimantima); Carlos Gómez-Flute (Quiebre); Camilo Parra-Flute (Quiebre); Tomas Benitez-Bombardino (Quiebre, Municipal Simphony # 4 and Salvation Army); Edgar Cáceres-Violin (Suite). Maria Angélica Valencia- Saxofón alto (Quiebre).

Bettye LaVette to close Teatro Libre JazzFest

Bettye LaVette to close the 23^rd Teatro Libre International Jazz Festival

Report by Oscar Montagut – From Bogotá, Colombia – Sept 8^th, 2011

This Saturday, September 10^th, Bettye LaVette will be the artist to close another edition of the Teatro Libre International Jazz Festival, in Bogota, Colombia. On this occasion, the woman with the expressive-voice, Bettye LaVette, will say goodbye to Bogota’s jazz lovers with an exciting concert at Julio Mario Santo Domingo Theater. Mrs. LaVette is going to be the last performer of this festival after nine days of concerts by recognized musicians including Billy Branch, Greg Diamond, Justo Almario, the Cartagena Big Band, Roberto Fonseca, Le Chat Lunatique Band, Luigi Cinque, the Bogota Big Band, Sebastian Schunke, Karlos Rotsen, and Terence Blanchard.

The finale of this 23^rd edition could not end better than with this American singer on the festival musical scene. LaVette has enchanted spectators and musical critics with her own musical language and style. It is not a coincidence that many of the most prestigious magazines around the world like The New Yorker and Rolling Stone recognize her as a talented, creative and expressive singer.

Keeping a Beautiful History Alive

The Teatro Libre International Jazz Festival has been hosting some of the most virtuous and amazing Colombian and international jazz musicians since 1998. This festival is considered one of the most important festivals in the region, and it has become a respected stage for those who know about the genre.

Nowadays it is really hard to maintain a festival because every day the media turns their attention more to other massive music genres like pop. Despite this reality, this festival remains committed and loyal to its spectators because the Teatro Libre Foundation has made and maintained a remarkable effort to keep this cultural cause alive even if receiving little economic support from the government and some private sponsors. For 23 years the Teatro Libre International Jazz Festival has given jazz lovers in Bogota the opportunity to meet and listen to jazz legends from Europe, the United States and Latin America including Hermeto Pascoal, Chick Corea, Jerry González, Mike Stern, Kenny Garret, and Carla Bley. This festival has been an inspirational place for local and international musicians, music students, teachers, trainers, professors, music lovers, journalists, and collectors.

More Than Concerts

The festival is not only about musical shows but educational meetings. For this edition of this musical event, three workshops were carried out as alternative activities for musicians: The first one was about modern jazz guitar by the famous Greg Diamond. The second workshop was lead by Le Chat Lunatique who exposed his ideas about gypsy and swing. The last educational session was about swing and R&B trumpet, taught by the Afro-American musician Terence Blanchard.

Creating an Audience

The celebration of jazz will continue next year because the main goal of the coordinators of this great event is to keep making people fall in love with jazz music. This is why the creative minds behind the festival will not stop bringing the best of this genre each year in order to seduce people to learn about jazz music and become enchanted with it. The Teatro Libre International Jazz Festival is part of Bogota’s life, dynamic and rhythm. Like any city in the world, every year the Colombian capital celebrates a festival where people always have the option to encounter others to dream together about musical notes, arrangements, solos, virtuosity, passion, and, of course, the feeling about one of the richest music genres the human being has ever created, jazz music.

AJAZZGO 2011 – XI Encounter in Cali City

AJAZZGO 2011 – XI Encounter of Jazz Fusion and Experimental Creators in Cali City

For seven days Cali city will enjoy more than eighty jazz artists integrated in twelve bands (four national and eight international). The festival will offer the spectators twenty-six educational and artistic activities on eight different stages; there will be eleven free concerts and workshops and fifteen shows with discount prices for students and seniors.

Report by Oscar Montagut – From Bogotá, Colombia – August 28^th, 2011

Cali City will be the place to meet a variety of extraordinary composers, musicians and interpreters of jazz music because this warm Colombian city will celebrate the eleventh edition of the Ajazzgo Festival from September 5^th to 11^th, 2011. International artists like John Scofield, Bobby Carcassés, Harold López-Nussa, Deborah Carter, Diego “El Cigala”, Karlos Rotsen, and Luigi Cinque will part of the schedule during this jazz week. This year the spectators will watch Colombian artists like Ensamble El Colectivo, Third Level, Andrés Ortíz, the Cali Philharmonic Orquestra, Samuel Torres and Ricardo Jaramillo.

The Name of the Festival is a Discovery

In a Latinamerican context the word “Ajazzgo” to name a jazz festival is very interesting because it sounds the same as the word “hallazgo” which means in Spanish “discovery”. At the same time in English the word “Ajazzgo” could be read like A – JAZZ – GO, in other words “Mr. Jazz, go ahead, just be you”. This festival has a title that invites the spectator to let the music be and this is shown by the commitment that the Ajazzgo directors and staff have to their city, spectators and music.

Latino Artists

The invited artists from the magical island Cuba are Bobby Carcassés and Harold López-Nussa. Mr. Carcassés, called by the Cuban people “the Afrocuban Jazz Guru”, is a recognized Jamaican painter and musician who lives in Cuba (his adopted country). Another Cuban musician is Mr. López-Nussa who comes from a musical dynasty and has won many prestigious awards like the Montreux Festival Revelation Pianist award. He currently is the pianist of the well-known singer Omara Portuondo. He will play with Ruy Adrian López Nussa (drumes), Gastón Joya (bass) and Mayquel Gonzales (trumpet).

European Artists

From the old continent the audience will have the chance to watch Karlos Rotsen, Diego “EL Cigala”, and Luigi Cinque. Mr. Rotsen is a West Indian composer and pianist who will bring his work full of different elements like afro, funk, soul and gospel. Rotsen’s band includes Irving Acao (sax), Arnaud Dolmen (drums) and Damian Nueva Cortes (double-bass). El Cigala, the famous flamenco singer, will bewitch the audience with his feeling and energy singing the typical Spanish folklore music accompanied by the guitarist Diego del Morao. Mr. Cinque, representing Italy, has done interesting work in different fields like poetry, music, literature and cinema. All this background shows that Mr. Cinque is an integral artist who is able to compose music from almost any human art. This time he will play the sax, clarinet, gaita and piano with his partner Bonafede who will play the keyboard.

American Artists

From the United States music lovers will listen to two well-known musicians; Deborah Carter and John Scofield. Mrs. Carter is a singer who will visit to show her experience living as an artist in Europe. Originally from Texas, United States, Deborah Carter has devoted her life to jazz singing in different countries like Japan, Holland and Europe. This beautiful singer will play with Mark Zandveld (bass), Coen Molenaar (piano) and Enrique Firpi (drums). John Scofield is the other American musician who will be playing at the Enrique Buenaventura Theater on the last day of the festival. Mr. Scofield is one of the principal innovators of modern jazz guitar. He has played with legends like Gary Burton and Miles Davis, and his work has been acclaimed by critics and jazz lovers around the world. Mr. Scofield will play with his band (Ben Street, bass; Bill Stewart, drums; and Michael Eckroth, piano).

Colombian Artists

The remarkable Samuel Torres and Andrés Ortíz will be some of the local artists for this edition of the festival. Mr. Torres is a virtuous percussionist who won the second place in the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition for Hand percussion. He has performed with jazz artists including Tito Puente, Chick Corea, Poncho Sanchez and Michael Brecker among other great musicians. Mr. Torres will play with the Cali Philharmonic Orquestra.

Another talented Colombian musician in this festival is Andres Ortíz. After studying in the Aula del Conservatori del Liceu, and taking classes with Bebo Valdes, Chick Corea and Bobby McFerrin, Andrés Ortíz won the Diversons Competition in Europe which allowed him to tour Spain and Portugal. Mr. Ortíz will play in Ajazzgo with the bass player Antonio Cervellino and drummer Brian Quinn.

Ajazzgo Festival Schedule

September 5th.

- Bobby Carcassés & Afrojazz - Septet (Cuba)

- Ensamble El Colectivo (Colombia)

Place: Los Cristales Outdoor Theater. 6:00 pm.

September 6th.

Harold López-Nussa - Quartet (Cuba)

Place: Comfandi Cultural Centre. 8:00 PM.

September 7th.

- Daniela Chabarría – Solo danza fusión jazz  (Cuba)

- Deborah Carter - Quartet (Holland)

Place: Enrique Buenaventura Theater. 8:00 pm

September 8th.

Third Level. Director José Gallegos (Colombia)

Place: Salamandra Theater. 8:00 pm

September 9th.

Andrés Ortíz – Trío (Switzerland – Colombia)

Place: Comfandi Cultural Centre. 6:00 pm.

September 9th.

- Cali Philarmonic Orquestra – Invited Soloist: Samuel Torres – Invited director: Ricardo Jaramillo (Colombia).

Place: Enrique Buenaventura Theater. 8:00 pm.

September 10th.

- Karlos Rotsen Quartet (French Antilles)

Place: Comfandi Cultural Centre. 6:00 pm.

September 10th.

- Cigala & Tango – Sextet (Spain)

Place: Enrique Buenaventura Theater. 8:00 pm.

September 11th.

Luigi Cinque Ópera Duet (Italy)

Place: Comfandi Cultural Centre. 6:00 pm.

Septiembre 11.

John Scofield – Quartet (Usa)

Place: Enrique Buenaventura Theater. 8:00 pm.

Website: www.ajazzgofestival.com

“Salsa al Parque” Festival 2011 – A Tribute to the Magical Joe Arroyo

Last weekend Bogotá, the Colombian capital, celebrated another edition of Salsa al Parque, one of the biggest salsa festivals in Latin America. This is the fourteenth time the “capitalinos” (people from Bogota) enjoyed the great event of salsa rhythm. In this opportunity the festival paid a tribute to Joe Arroyo, the greatest Colombian performer of Caribbean music who passed away last month after suffering from multiorgan failure.

Report by Oscar Montagut – From Bogotá, Colombia – August 22^th, 2011

On Friday, August 19^th, at the Plaza de Bolívar, Salsa al Parque 2011 started the show with some of the winners of the Bogotá salsa band contest like Yoruba DC Orquestra, Deja Vu, and Enclave Latino. The weather was not the best for the beginning of the festival but this was not a barrier for salsa lovers to appreciate and enjoy the Caribbean rhythms of these local bands; the sounds of drums, trumpets and pianos were the tools to connect to the ancestral African music that any salsa fan has in his veins.

The first international artist that afternoon was the Puerto Rican Bobby Valentín, best known as “the King of Bass”, who started with a strong, rich salsa sound that made people forget their long work day. The sun set, and each “salsero” (salsa lover) sang with passion “Doña Bella” (Mrs. Beautiful), an unforgettable hit by Valentín.

The next artist was Rey Ruiz, the Cuban romantic singer who has been encouraging young people to love the salsa genre in different countries around the world. Mr. Ruiz transmitted energy to the audience and he proved this by his attitude when singing his hit “Fenomenal” (Phenomenal).  The night was a little cold and rainy but this seemed not to be an obstacle for people to stay in that big plaza among more than fourteen thousand people full of vitality to listen to lyrics and syncopated musical performances.

After Rey Ruiz, the Colombian band Calambuco came out to the stage in a particular and original way; the singer started the show with a soccer narration in which some of the players were public and political figures. The narration ended, and musical feelings and good sounds spread out over the spectators.

More than twenty minutes passed while the logistic team got the stage ready for the Fania legend Roberto Roena. Four elegant singers came out to explode with great voices followed by the director and dancer Mr. Roena, located just behind them to conduct the intro of the first song. Thousands of people danced to iconic salsa hits like “Marejada Felíz” (Happy Marejada) and “Cómo te hago entender” (How Do I Make You Understand?). In the middle of the concert Roena asked the audience to have a few minutes of silence to honour salsa legend Joe Arroyo. With his particular rough voice Roberto Roena said goodbye to this year’s edition of the festival leaving his heart with the spectators.

The last performance of this first day was the legendary salsa duet Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz who gave more than one hour of descarga and instrumental improvisation as is usual in their concerts. People sang hits together with Mr. Cruz like “Jala Jala” and “Sonido Bestial” (Wild Sound) while they danced passionately at midnight under Bogotá’s sky. The first night of Salsa al Parque ended with people cheering and standing ovations for this talented duet.

Due to the soccer world cup on Saturday, the second day of the festival was on Sunday, August 21^st. On this day Bogotá salsa lovers enjoyed the musical melodies of other winners of the local band contest like Enclave 80, Pa’lo Alto Orquestra, and Guarango Salsa, three young and talented groups who turned the atmosphere on at the Cultural Centre La Media Torta. Later the audience was pleasantly surprised when eleven beautiful women came out to play charanga, the typical and catchy Cuban rhythm. Two violins, one flute, and even a xylophone were part of the instruments played by Santísima Charanga who made more than one man sigh and dance.

Continuing with the festival, next on stage was the Dutch musician Maité Hontelé from Medellín, where she currently lives. Mrs. Hontelé is an excellent trumpet player with a special feeling for Latin music which has resulted in her performing with the legendary Buena Vista Social Club. To Salsa al Parque Maité brought Cuban, Latin-jazz, bolero and popular Colombian songs.

Before the festival’s end, the salsa fans received with great applause the Purizaga Brothers, a committed Peruvian salsa band lead by Enrique (piano), Eddie (voice) and Jorge Purizaga(bass). Their strong and classical salsa sound caught people’s attention making them jump and shake their bodies. After the Purizaga Brothers said goodbye the spectators moved closer to the stage fence to wait for one of the most innovative and talented orquestras in Bogota, La-33.

The cultural centre was so crowded with spectators who arrived just to see La-33 who has toured in almost five continents around the world. Their sound is a mixture of bogaloo, mambo and other rhythms like funk. The people clapped and shouted the name of the group, waiting for that energy that La-33 transmits from the stage. Songs like “La 33” and “Pantera Mambo” (Mambo Panther) were sung aloud by each one of the spectators. This night had a reason to be special, not only to celebrate another edition of Salsa al Parque, but to celebrate ten years of La-33 making people fall in love with salsa music.

Chucho Valdés in the Great Jazz Colombian Alliance

Report by Oscar Montagut – From Bogotá, Colombia – June 19^th, 2011

With a concert by the 2011 Grammy award winner, Chucho Valdes, the “Circuito de Jazz de Colombia” will be launched in Bogotá, Colombia, on June 23, at 8:00 p.m, at the Jorge Eliecer Gaitán Theatre. The Jazz Colombian Alliance is a group of the most prestigious jazz festivals including Festival de Jazz de Cali Ajazzgo, Festival de Jazz de Barranquilla Barranquijazz, Festival de Jazz de Medellín Medejazz, Festival de Jazz Teatro Libre de Bogotá, Festival Jazz al Parque, Festival Sevijazz de Sevilla and Festival de Jazz de Manizales.

The creation of this great network of jazz festivals is dedicated to working relentlessly for jazz lovers, musicians and the same festivals’ organization. This “circuito” is a strategic alliance that provides a unique space where many artists can share knowledge, experiences and talent which can inspire new audiences. The main goal of this cultural alliance is to keep contributing to the promotion of jazz music in Colombia with a persistent and exciting calendar each year, in the principal cities of the country. This great jazz event will turn Colombia into one of the most interesting jazz destinations in Latin America. Musical legends will visit Colombia in September to be part of a two-week jazz party: John Scofield, Justo Almario, Terence Blanchard, Oscar Hernández, Giovanni Hidalgo, and Diego El Cigala are just a few of the legendary artists in the exciting concert calendar this year.

The Grammy Winner

There was no other way to launch this alliance than to bring one of the most talented pianists in the last two decades to the centre stage. Jesús Dionisio Valdés, well-known as Chucho Valdes, is the international artist whose unrivalled talent will launch this promising network in Colombia.

After eleven years, the Latin jazz icon, Chucho Valdes will be back in Bogotá with the virtuous Afro-Cuban Messengers to share his Grammy award-winning new album “Chucho’s Steps”, according to him, his best and most complete work in years.

Jacobo Vélez and La Matatigrezz

In addition, the dynamic artists Jacobo Vélez and La Matatigrezz are the Colombian musicians scheduled to perform in this jazz event. This quintet plays songs composed by Mr. Veléz and based on traditional Colombian music and some elements of cool jazz. Jacobo is a talented composer and saxophonist from the city of Cali, the other musicians include Holman Alvarez (piano), Jorge Sepúlveda (drums), Juan Manuel Toro, (double bass), and Pavel Zuzaeta (trompet).

CIRCUITO DE JAZZ DE COLOMBIA CALENDAR 2011
www.circuitodejazzcolombia.com

XI FESTIVAL AJAZZGO ARTISTS

Cali, September 5-11

• John Scofield (USA)
• Diego El Cigala (Spain)
• Robbie Ameen (USA)
• Deborah Carter (USA – Netherlands)
• Bobby Carcasses & Afrojazz (Cuba)
• Karlos Rotzen (France)
• Edy Martínez (Colombia)
• Luigi Cinque (Italy)
• Jaime Henao (Colombia)
• Carolina Calvache (Colombia)
• El Colectivo (Colombia)
• Andrés Ortiz (Colombia-Suiza)

XXIII FESTIVAL DE JAZZ DEL TEATRO LIBRE ARTISTS

Bogotá, September 1 – 10

• Billy Branch (USA)
• Greg Diamond (USA)
• Justo Almario & Cartagena Caribe Big Band (Colombia)
• Terence Blanchard (USA)
• Sebastian Schunke (Germany)
• Roberto Fonseca (Cuba)
• Bettye Lavette (USA)

VIII FESTIVAL SEVIJAZZ ARTISTS

Sevilla (Valle), September 2 – 4

• En Ningún Lugar (Colombia)
• Deborah Carter (USA – Netherlands)
• El Colectivo (Colombia)

XV FESTIVAL MEDEJAZZ ARTISTS

Medellín, September 1 – 10

• Robbie Ameen (USA)
• Diego El Cigala (Spain)
• Eddie Palmieri and La Perfecta II (USA-Puerto Rico)
• Buena Vista Social Club (Cuba)
• Deborah Carter (USA-Netherlands)
• Luigi Cinque (Italy)
• Siguarajazz and Los Reyes del Ritmo with Giovanni Hidalgo, “EL negro” Hernández and Samuel Torres. (Colombia-Cuba-Puerto Rico)
• Grupo Triaje (Colombia)

FESTIVAL BARRANQUIJAZZ ARTISTS

Barranquilla, September 7 – 11

• Roberto Fonseca (Cuba)
• Terence Blanchard (USA)
• Seis del Solar with Oscar Hernández
• Diego El Cigala (Spain)
• Stefon Harris (USA)
• Eddie Palmieri and La Perfecta II (USA-Puerto Rico)
• Deborah Carter (USA-Netherlands)

***

Oscar Montagut graduated in journalism and education in Colombia. He also finished his postgraduate program in Creative Writing in Canada. Currently Oscar works as an English teacher, translator, and freelance writer in Bogotá. He is a music collector, explorer and promoter of World Music. Exploring about music is his passion, knowing the history and evolution of this art is part of his life. Latin jazz, Salsa, Bossanova and any afro rhythms are some of his musical interests.

Contact: oscarmontagut@hotmail.com

Catching Up with Percussionist, Composer, Arranger Samuel Torres

Interview #2 conducted October 2, 2010 by Tomas Peña (by telephone)

“Music was always the main communion between the members of my family, my friends and me. It also helped me find out who I am.”

TP: Congratulations on the release of Yaounde, your third recording as a leader.

ST: Thank you.

TP: Do you come from a musical family?

ST: My grandfather, Manuel Martinez was a trombone player. He came from a small town in southern Colombia near Ecuador. At the age of fourteen he escaped from the Ecuadorian army and he traveled throughout the Caribbean during the 1930s and 1940s. Before returning to Colombia he picked up a lot of musical influences. My grandmother was a self-taught musician and my uncle, Francisco Martinez, who is the father of (pianist, composer, arranger) Edy Martinez, played the saxophone.

TP: Tell me about Edy Martinez.

ST: Edy came to the United States as a teenager in the 1960’s and rose to fame in the New York City salsa scene in the early 1970s as a pianist and arranger for Ray Barretto’s conjunto. My uncle Juan followed him. He was a drummer and sideman with the Tito Rodriguez orchestra and Machito and his Afro Cubans among others.

My grandfather (Manuel) had a great collection of jazz and Afro-Cuban LP’s (records) that he picked up during his travels and because of Edy I have a collection of Ray Barretto and Fania (Records) recordings. When I was a kid I was fascinated by album covers. My favorite album cover was (and still is) Ray Barretto’s Indestructible.

TP: The cover depicts Ray unbuttoning his shirt and removing his Clark Kent-styled glasses to reveal a Superman costume underneath. Indestructible and The Other Road (1973) are two of my favorite albums of all time.

ST: Eventually I got around to playing the record and I fell in love with Ray’s music and his energy, he was my idol. When I finally met Ray I mentioned that one of my favorite recordings was Barretto Live: Tomorrow (Koch Records, 1976). Suffice it to say he did not feel that it was one of his best recordings.     

TP: I also idolized Ray and grew up listening to his music. It was Ray’s work as a sideman with guitarist, Wes Montgomery that sparked my interest in jazz.

ST: Through Ray’s music, which contained a lot of jazz elements I started listening to jazz, Cuban music, the Fania recordings and Latin jazz. Then in 1989 my cousin went to Cuba and returned with recordings by Irakere and Los Van Van. At the same time there was a big musical community in Bogotá and a nightclub called Salomé, where music lovers and collectors gathered. On Friday night after the bar closed, the serious music lovers would stay behind and listen to music until seven AM. That’s how I was exposed to music that was not considered mainstream in Colombia. After that I started studying music formally. I studied classical music by day and listened to Cuban music by night.

TP: The last time we spoke you mentioned a number of other recordings that were influential in your musical development.

ST: Actually, there were two: Tito Puente’s Cuban Carnaval (1956, RCA) and Santitos Colon’s De Mi Para Ti (1964). I listened to those albums over and over. I even listened to them while I slept.

TP: Today we call that “downloading.” What prompted you take up the drums?

ST: There was a popular commercial on TV for Cerveza Aguila in Bogotá that began with a simple conga pattern (mimics the patterns by mouth). Basically, I started out by copying the basic patterns. Then I graduated to cookie cans, a pair of old bongos, a pair of new bongos, an old conga drum and finally a new conga drum.

TP: Did you take formal lessons?

ST: Yes, I took about four lessons with a great conga player from Colombia named Luis Pacheco. He was the original conguero with Grupo Niche and Orquesta Guayacan.

TP: He taught you the basics.

ST: Yes. Also, when Cuban musicians performed in Colombia I went to see them and invariably we would talk about music and share new ideas. In 1993 my uncle Edy returned to Colombia and formed a band. Also around that time a lot of Cuban musicians moved to Colombia and I learned a lot from them.

TP: How old were you when you started playing semi-professionally?

ST: I was about fifteen years old.  

TP: You also studied composition. The following is a direct quote: “Since I began playing Latin percussion, I felt there was a pervading bad attitude about percussionists. People would laugh and say, ‘there are musicians and then there are conga players.’ One of the things that I wanted to do was to help change that incorrect impression. I believe that composition is one way to do that. Composition is a big tool to help one understand music. It enables you to express many feelings that it might be difficult to communicate otherwise.”

ST: When I told my professor that I wanted to be a professional conga player (percussionist) he asked me if I was willing to forego a career as a classical percussionist and I said “Yes.” Later the Dean of Music became involved and he offered me some very solid advice. He told me that I needed a major and suggested that I should study composition as a way of learning to make a difference and develop my own sound. He also taught me another interesting lesson. That is, in order to break the rules you have to learn them.

TP: What is his name?

ST: His name is Guillermo Gavinia. He eventually went on to become Colombia’s Minister of Culture.

TP: By all accounts you were very successful at an early age. In fact, by the time you were twenty-one you were already an established musician as well as a director and arranger for some of Colombia’s most highly regarded telenovelas (soap operas) and films. In spite of that you packed your bags and moved to the United States.

ST: I knew that someday I would come to the United States. The music that I fell in love with as a child (Salsa, Latin Jazz) was created in New York.

TP: Did your uncle Edy (Martinez) play a role in your decision to move to states?

ST: At the time he was living in New York and performing with Ray Barretto’s conjunto. I knew that coming to the states was something I had to do. With respect to my career in Colombia, I was working a lot, making lots of money and playing with some of the best musicians on Colombia’s music scene but I was only twenty-one, still young enough to start a new career. When my mother moved to Miami (1998) I sensed that life was telling me what to do. I followed her one year later.   

TP: Shortly after arriving in the U.S. your career took a dramatic turn when you were tapped by trumpet virtuoso Arturo Sandoval to join his group. You spent four years touring and recording with Arturo. Tell me about that period in your life and what you gained from the experience.

ST: Arturo taught me so much. Among other things he taught me about the Cuban element. The way Cubans speak, their expressions, the way they walk, the way they eat, the way they dance. You have to understand the culture in order to understand their music.

TP: In retrospect what was the most significant lesson that Arturo taught you?

ST: When I arrived in the U.S. I was very critical of myself, I was very self-conscious and I had a tendency to over intellectualize my playing. Arturo taught me how to loosen up, to be more spontaneous and to connect with the audience. I can still hear Arturo saying, “Stop worrying, you are a great musician, play from the heart and transmit that feeling to your audience.”

TP: Considering the source that is quite a compliment.  While you were with Arturo’s band you attracted the attention of Tito Puente, Paquito D’ Rivera, Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, Claudio Roditi, Richard Bona, Lila Downs and Shakira among others. As a result you participated in many recordings as a sideman. In 2006 you stepped out on your own and recorded Skin Tones, your first recording as a leader.

ST: While I was living in Miami I wrote a lot of music and worked at developing my sound but it wasn’t until I moved to New York (2002) that I found a voice for my compositions.

TP: How so?

ST: All of my idols live in New York! While I was in Miami I saw a lot of bands that gave me great ideas. Groups you don’t often see in New York and I started thinking about the kind of sound I wanted to create. When I arrived in New York I met vocalist Julia Dollison, whose voice is like an instrument. I collaborated with her and trumpeter Michael Rodriguez on a demo and started thinking about the possibility of creating a career and making a living with my music. Shortly thereafter, I recorded Skin Tones.

TP: You assembled an all-star cast for the recording: Bassist John Benitez, pianist Hector Martignon, harpist Edmar Castaneda, drummer Ernesto Simpson, trumpeter Michael Rodriguez, saxophonist Mike Campagna and vocalist Julia Dollison among others. How was the recording received?

ST: Very good!  From my perspective as a Colombian living in New York it was a very gratifying experience. Unlike other recordings where percussion is used to provide shades and colors, the drums are the centerpiece, everything revolves around the drums.

TP: And the reviews were excellent.

ST: I am grateful for the positive feedback and very happy with the way the recording turned out.

TP: Your association with African guitarist, Richard Bona and a recent trip to Africa (Cameroon) ushered in a new chapter in your life. Moreover it provided you with a new appreciation for the manner in which the music of your native Colombia evolved. Tell me about your trip to Africa and the connections between African and Colombian music.

ST: The first connection is geographical. Climate wise it is very similar to Colombia. Also, the music is very similar. The African influence is very strong in Latin America.

TP: In spite of that, the African influence is often denied in Latin America.

ST: It happens. In Colombia, after the slaves were freed they built their own cities (Palenque’s) on the Pacific coast and segregated themselves economically and socially. Similarly in Cameroon there are no roads. People get to where they want to go by boat or by plane. Interestingly over the last ten years it has become very fashionable to learn about Afro-Latino culture and Black music. The African influence is strong in Latin America and there is no denying that fact.  

TP: It’s gratifying to see a growing Afro-Latino movement throughout Latin America. While you were in Africa you discovered some intriguing similarities between the music of Colombia and Cameroon.

ST: Yes, the use of the marimba and the way the people dance. The music of the Pacific Coast region has indigenous influences, which makes it sound more Latin however rhythmically the music of Cameroon is quite complex.

TP: When you returned from West Africa you embarked on your second recording as a leader.

ST: Actually, I had no idea of what to call it!

TP: In the end you named the album after a song you composed, which is named after Cameroon’s capital city (Yaounde). Tell me about Yaounde.

ST: It’s Latin jazz with a Colombian groove, a New York vision and the spirit of West Africa. Ernesto (Simpson) and John (Benitez) lived in Colombia and they have a deep understanding of the music. And of course the rest of the band members are all superb musicians.

TP: Stylistically, it is more adventurous than anything you have done before. And once again you assembled an all-star cast of Puerto Rican, Cuban, Jewish, Colombian and South American musicians who are well versed in jazz and Latin music: Joel Frahm (tenor and soprano saxophones), Anat Cohen (clarinet), Michael Rodriguez (trumpet, flugelhorn), Manuel Valera (piano, Fender Rhodes, Nord keyboard), John Benitez provides (bass), Ernesto Simpson (drums) and Sofia Rei Koutsovitis (vocals).

How was the recording received?

ST: The reviews have been very good. More important the critics seem to understand the message I am trying to communicate.

TP: It must be very gratifying to know that the critics “get it.” What’s next on your agenda?

ST: I have a number of things coming up, the biggest is a cultural festival in Bogota (Colombia) in October (2010). It’s the world premiere of Concierto para 8 Congas Y Orquesta (Concert for 8 congas and orchestra) with the Bogota Philharmonic followed by a concert in Germany on December 15th.

TP: Good luck with the performance. Do you have any plans to record the event for posterity or perform the concierto in the states?

ST: At the moment there are no specific plans to do either. However, I am open to the idea.

TP: Before I close I should mention the fact that you placed second in Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition for Hand Percussion. Moreover, you produced the DVD, Drum Solos Revisited for Martin Cohen’s Latin Percussion, Inc., which features fifteen New York City percussionists showcasing beginner, intermediate and advanced solos on congas, bongos and timbales.

More important you have succeeded in dispelling the notion that “there are musicians and then there are conga players.” As one reviewer wrote you are a “fully developed musician in the true meaning of the word – an artist who passionately follows his intuitions, ever broadening his horizons while further honing his wide-ranging, world-class skills.”

ST: Thank you for your kind words.

TP: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me and much success with your upcoming concert in Bogota, Colombia.

ST: Thank you, Tomas.

For Additional Information on Samuel Torres visit www.samueltorres.com

Lucía Pulido: Time Darkened by Sorrow, Brightened By Passion

Feature written by: Raul da Gama

The sky darkens, Lorca-like and a primordial wail rips through it. “Ai…leh leh leh…/No sé qué tendrá mi pecho/no sé qué tendrá mi pecho…/que mi voz alevanta,” she sings as she cries… “I don’t know what’s in my chest/I don’t know what’s in my chest…/that my voice is arising.” Her voice cuts through the dense clouds and shoots across the sky towards the infinite… Beloved Carmelita has thrown her life away. Dressed like a siren, she emerges from her home to walk the streets. The singer is heartbroken. “Carmelita, adiós,” she warns… “Ai…leh leh leh…/No sabiendo que la rosa/no sabiendo que la rosa/muere triste y deshojada/a le le le,” “Not knowing that the rose/Not knowing that the rose/Dies sad and bereft of petals/Carmelita adios.”

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Lucía Pulido’s voice is in flood, like the Orinoco when it rains and is angry that the earth is dry. Her voice rises and falls, ululating… mimicking the river as it soars high and mighty over everything, sweeping out of sight the flotsam and jetsam that despoil the green brown and blue of the soundscape. It is the cleansing fire, the heart’s desire. The gausá rattles and trembles in her hand as her voice is tremulous. The chirimía band that encourages her sensuous swagger to become intense as a dervish, or mystic… a saint in a trance until her energy and the band’s consume everything on the earth that bleeds with elemental sorrow—and many time with unbridled joy as well.

The album is Lucía Pulido, a 2000 release from the German label, Intuition. It is a pivotal one for Pulido, who is joined here by the Japanese percussionist, Satoshi Takeishi who arranges the songs and also plays the Tambora, Llamador and Redoblante—instruments of north and west African origin that are traditional to Colombia and elsewhere in South America, first brought over by the Spanish conquistadores. Like she has done on so many occasions before, Pulido reaches deep into the heart of her music. In fact she goes even beyond that to find the soul of the songs, the ghostly characters and develops the kind of bestiary that would have done that Argentinean master—Jorge Luis Borges—proud. Her lyricism is beautiful and her profound interpretations qualify her to be more than a griot. On the sensual “El Pilón,” a traditional feature that is like something from out of missing verses from the Biblical Songs of Solomon she cavorts with her characters, slurring and delaying the end notes of each phrase to depict near-drunken love and this infuses the song with dramatic puya effect.

Two religious songs make this album breathtakingly beautiful. The first is the somber, “En Una Tiniebla Oscura” devoted to the Virgin Mary and the other is played to “Cantos de Vaquería,” lavishly enhanced with brass and woodwinds. Her association with Bullerengue is masterful and the two on the album are unforgettable. “Porro Magangueleño” and “Carmelita, Adios” are so deeply felt that they are almost seared into the memory. “Zafra” is a high and lonesome zafra or herding song from the Atlantic coast of the country and is magnificently approached by bassist, Jairo Moreno, who might as well have bowed his way into a very special place in the realm of acoustic bass players. The percussionists make the piece much too seductive to resist. And “Velo Qué Bonito” is a funerary masterpiece, conceived and executed with sublime emotion.

Lucía Pulido is an artist who connects with the genre of song at a very elementally deep level. To that extent she exercises an almost shamanic control over the lyric, its narration and how it will affect the listener. In Africa she would be a gnawa, like Maalem Mahmoud Gania, the legendary Moroccan gnawa musician first brought out of Africa by Bill Laswell with the seminal Trance of the Seven Colors, a collaboration with the great tenor saxophonist, Pharoah Sanders that is a certified masterpiece, as is the other gnawa album produced by Laswell, The Next Dream with that other mystical gnawa artist, Bachir Attar.

Pulido is an artist who has been shaped by a passionate love for her country and is bonded to Colombia almost the way a wood sprite is bonded with a forest floor. The air she breathes seems to transform itself as it courses through her veins. Cultures collide in her heart and soul… African, Spanish, Caribbean, Amerindian. She may not be any one of them, but she is all of them. This is why her soul can float free, travelling infinitely across the country drawing on sounds and stories—real and mythical, concrete and mystical—until she has absorbed them and made them her own. It seems that she can experience life through every pore. As experiences become internalized they also form a continuum that Pulido transforms into her art using a voice that has no parallel in music. Pulido’s voice is like an instrument that is at once a part of her body as well as a musical device that is to be controlled with unbridled imagination and extreme virtuosity.

So complete is Pulido’s command of her sublime voice that she can set it free like a bird, watching as it catches a thermal and floats high and mightily across oceans of sound. She can bend it, let it crack and yodel with it. And because her voice is a mirror to her soul she can let it sink to depths of despair to conjure up images of extreme sadness—even the finality of death—before it rises and flies free as it is the soul itself ascending into the heavens where it will be ensconced, with celestial beings, as it finally comes to rest. That is just one of the stories she can tell. Her intonation is exquisite. Her songs become arias as she articulates not just emotions, but the complicated melodic and harmonic journeys that she undertakes to tell the music’s stories. She is a trumpet, a shepherd’s horn; a trombone and a lyre. She is a wood sylph, a siren, a saint and sinner crying out for salvation. She is a drum connecting with the animism of the rainforest as well as with the frightening prospect of life in a slum.

Clearly Pulido exists in a continuum that parallels the history of Colombia. Its fractured history from the time it was liberated from its Spanish colonists by Simón Bolívar through dictatorships of the early part of the 20th Century, the guerillas who tore up the country; the drug cartels—the chilling legacy of the 70’s. It was against this backdrop that Pulido first made a name for herself as the voice of the legendary duo, Iván y Lucía. The “Iván” of the dup was Iván Benavides, a songwriter and musician whose name was synonymous with the Nueva Canción movement, which incorporated the newly invented vallenato musical dialect, much in the same way Caetano Veloso’s and Gilberto Gil came to found Musica Popular Brasileira, or the tropicalia movement in song. Throughout the 80’s and the 90’s, the duo, Iván y Lucía ruled the Colombian popular music scene as Veloso and Gil, Elis and Maria Bethânia ruled the one in Brasil.

The power duo performed tirelessly criss-crossing the country, performing in small towns and large ones. Benavides grew into a truly accomplished composer, who probably did not get the credit he deserved for the music he helped create for a decade. It is unfortunate that the duo is known to have recorded only two albums and it is not really known how much of the music really remains for aficionados and collectors to treasure. It is however, impossible to erase from memory the recording and many performances of Benavides’ classic chart, “Alba,” a song which he wrote to a poem by José Luis Díaz Granados. Iván y Lucía created a song that became an anthem for a whole generation, as did other classic Nueva Canción compositions, “A la sombra del tiempo” and “Corazón” among the numerous others that Benavides created for his partner and himself to woo audiences with wherever they went to perform. Benavides also created songs of protest against the murderous politics of the paramilitary culture that was tearing Colombia apart then. A few have still survived. “Canción para los ausentes” and the towering “Afuera” were two such songs. The latter is as well known as the Brasilian legend, Chico Buarque’s “Calice.”

Then, in the early 90’s Carlos Vives, arguably Colombia’s most well known artist launched a new record label to celebrate the growing popularity of Colombia’s Nueva Canción. Gaira Musica Local was launched with the release of Lucía, Pulido’s first really solo album. Although produced by the prodigiously talented composer, pianist, accordionist and organist, Héctor Martignon, Iván Benavides returned to compose virtually all of the music and play guitars throughout the album. The music on Lucía stands out as one of the finest popular albums ever made in Colombia. The musical idiom is almost completely vallenato, a Colombian street rhythm long considered part of the lower class, untouchable culture by Colombian elites. Bookended by Benavides’ amazingly deep and moving chart, “La Hoguera,” the album also contains such gems as “Las Cuatro Palomas,” “El Piano Dolores” and the Caribbean flavored “Circulo Vicioso,” which was probably one of the most enduring melodies that Iván Benavides has ever written.

In 1994 Pulido arrived in New York and immediately began a niche for herself. Although her first solo album, Lucía was released by Vives’ label a year later, Pulido had already begun to meld the music of Colombia into a unique approach to her musical art, stretching her experimental style of singing to the limit. Traditional forms of music, such as Bullerengue, joropos and cumbia became launch pads for her fabulous flights of vocalastics. Her sophisticated art also encompassed cantos de vaquería, herding songs, alabaos funeral laments and cantos de zafra or harvest chants. After the success of Lucía Pulido: Cantos Religiosos y Paganos in 2000, she went on to release Dolor de Ausencia, a classic repertoire of broken love, despecho, twelve boleros and valses that are filled with such elemental sadness that are breathtaking in their sweep of the emotional beauty. The chart, “Aunque me duela el Alma” is one of those songs that will remain seared in the memory even with just one hearing. Once again Pulido had struck home not only with her amazing ability to turn timeless feelings into timeless music. The brilliance of her art continued to grow beyond even wild expectation. Still her appeal was largely niche and her recorded output considered to consist of specialized projects, although she continued to gain fame from performing not only in the United States, but also in Latin America and Europe as well.

In 2005, Pulido began a cycle of Songbooks with the writer and experimental guitarist, Fernando Tarrés y La Raza, Songbook I (Beliefs) and Songbook II (Prayers) will remain among the most ambitious vocal music ever committed to disc in any language or culture in any time. The full impact of Lucía Pulido’s sophistication and fearless experimental approach to music exists in these two discs released on the Argentinean label, BAU Records. The extraordinary musical journey is like a river in flood. Its brilliance is felt from the time the first bars are sounded by Tarrés’ spectacular guitars, Jerónimo Carmona’s deep resonant bass and the polyrhythmic gymnastics of Carto Brandán’s percussion and the host of other talented musicians. This incredible music continues unabated throughout Songbook I (Beliefs) . It is, however, Songbook II (Prayers) that is, without doubt, one of the most breathtaking albums in Pulido’s repertoire. On the opening chart, “Aqui te estoy esperando” Pulido provides the most extraordinary example of her vocal prowess as she sings the first few bars of the mystical song a capella but is eerily pitch perfect throughout its undulating progress. On her favorite, “La Hoguera (Final)” she duels in fine fashion with two fine percussionists, Jorge Sepúlveda and Urián Sarmiento.

The collective improvisation on both albums is clearly why New York musicians, David Binney and Erik Friedlander love to work with Pulido. Her innate ability to create music quite literally out of mouthfuls of air makes her one of the most precious artists in that city. It is also the reason why the Brasilian musician, Benjamin Taubkin tipped her for his own ambitious project, Contemporary America, Another Center (Adventure Music, 2007) a beautifully crafted recording where the musical idioms of 7 South American countries explode in an album of Amazonian splendor, as colorful as it is dense and rich and fresh in experimentalism. Experimentalism and unbridled creativity is also the most memorable aspect of Pulido’s tribute to the renowned Colombian writer, Rafael Pombo put together by Carlos Vives in 2008. And spectacular versions of “Canto de Zafra” and “Canto de Velorio” were included in the soundtrack for Gustav Deutsch’s experimental German film, Film ist: A Girl and a Gun, a musical experiment Pulido shared with three contemporary European musicians: Christian Fennez, Burkhard Stangl and Martin Seiwart.

Lucía Pulido created a sensation with her 2008 masterpiece, Luna Menguante/Waning Moon also released on the Adventure Music label. Here she celebrates her rare talent once again. Of all the vocalists in the world of music, especially those that practice the ancient, dying art of singing a story – not merely narrating – but telling it as griots do only a handful inhabit an atmosphere so rarified that they would qualify for canonization. If such sainthood was possible then Abbey Lincoln and Sheila Jordan would have been anointed a while ago. So would Sussan Deyhim, the Farsi singer of Sufi music and the Ethiopian singer, Ejigayehu “Gigi” Shibabaw, as well as Maria Bethânia from Brasil… and the reining griot princess would, of course, be Lucía Pulido from Colombia.

Of all of these vocalists, Lucía Pulido’s is the probably most arresting and sublime artistry. She has the most bewitching voice that can swirl from ebullient and festive to an elementally sad lament. So great is her control over the vocal dynamic that Pulido can summon sudden changes in power and density, by gathering her vocal chords and pouring liquefied dialogues with musicians and instruments. She is able to take command and consume a lyric and if she so pleases and the song demands, set it free to flutter into the ether to echo interminably until it pierces the heart like a perfectly-aimed arrow.

The album, Luna Menguante/Waning Moon is a breathtaking showcase of this otherworldly talent. It gathers together music from the folkloric traditions of the Colombian Caribbean, its Pacific Coast and the Eastern Plains. There are twelve songs rendered in an utterly ancient yet modern context with such brilliance that each seizes the senses and it is impossible to extract oneself from the lyric, the manner in which the song is vocalized and the dynamic sound canvas that she is able to conjure up. Pulido inhabits the music with body and soul. She alone commands what it will do to the senses – all six of them, which are at once her prisoner until the song becomes the epiphany.

Although each of the songs is exquisitely complete there is something extraordinarily magical with the ones she sings with the accompaniment of Stomu Takeishi’s bass. “I’ve No One to Love Me,” “Full Moon Song” and “Funeral Song” are exemplary in style, interplay with the bass and the power of voice over lyric. But is the 0.27 second, solo-voiced “Cattleherding Song” that will be best remembered for its power and solitary splendor. But then the other tracks are no less unforgettable… And the magic of Lucía Pulido’s voice continues to haunt long after the echoes of the last notes have died in the future.

This is an extraordinary record. Although many musicians may have attempted to bring the beauty of Latin American folkloric beauty to life, few artists are likely to have such a lasting impact as Lucía Pulido’s Luna Menguante/Waning Moon. Perhaps with the possible exception of Gigi’s Abyssinia Infinite, Sussan Deyhim’s Madman of God, Maria Bethânia’s As Canções Que Você Fez Pra Mim, Maryam Tollar’s work on Michael Occhipinti’s Sicilian Jazz Project and Abbey Lincoln’s Abbey Sings Abbey. But Pulido’s may be better than them all. Tragically, however, Lucía Pulido remains a niche artist, known for her extraordinary experimentalism rather than for the great vocalist that she is—in any country and in any time. Perhaps one day when musical tastes return to the high art that they once were Pulido will receive what is truly due to her.

Lucía Pulido on the web: www.luciapulido.com

Feature written by: Raul da Gama

Samuel Torres – Yaoundé (Self Produced – 2010)

For the spirits to materialise when they are summoned in worship the practice of the worship must reach a level of intensity—get to the blue part of the flame, so to speak—and arouse the angels and God as well to come down and bless the worshippers a million-fold. When David played his harp, so intense was his music that Samuel was inspired to anoint him King. Now it is the turn of another Samuel, not to anoint, but to call up the angels and saints and to placate God to bring peace and happiness and to look kindly upon his people… He calls with deep intensity and does not let up throughout Yaoundé, a masterful supplication in various parts. The Samuel in question is Samuel Torres, that Colombian percussion colorist, who directs the proceedings and, in doing so, also draws in everyone who hears the echo of the congas and chekere and Llaneras, kalimba and caxixis… And the spirits and Saints, at least, are moved to bless this project.

The magnificent ablutions begin with “Un Atardecer en Cartagena de Indias” and continue through “Oye,” but it is only when the music of “Yaoundé” heats up that the real entrancement begins. Bassist, John Benitez is superb here as is pianist, Manuel Valera who play in deep sympathy with Torres to make the initial supplication—like the beginning of a Santeria séance. From then on, things are almost trance-like. Torres excels again in his conga master class, “Tumaco” and a sensuous melt down of sorts occurs in the beautiful Bambuco Colombiano, the riveting “Bambuco (To Santa Fe de Bogota). Played in a magnetic meter of 6/8 and creating a hypnotic swagger, Torres revives an old Colombian Polska to cool things down.

Torres’ next agenda is more personal. His music now addresses private blessings and with superb attention to detail he brings the mastery of saxophonist Joel Frahm, brass player, Michael Rodriguez and pianist Manuel Valera together for the next part of the spirit awakening. Here, though Torres directs his music to the blessing of small things—everything that the Lord made. Much of the music is an exaltation of personal relationships. The love of an artist who is concerned about the state of human condition. Torres proves himself to be a very committed artist here.

As a percussionist, Samuel Torres is not classical. His cut and slash is daring and he uses his gnarled palms to make the skins talk. His taps with the tips of his hands and the resonating howl brought forth by cupped palms is astounding. He can make almost vocal insinuations with his various small percussion instruments and his use of the Llaneras and various chekere and caxixis is both votive and melodic. It would be remiss not to mention also the fine addition of Anat Cohen, whose woody, breathtaking round sounds on “Macondo” are short, yet memorable.

Torres has certainly attempted something really ambitious. To the extent that he has managed to maintain the level of energy that is required conducting a sort of ritual prayer and cleansing, this album hold up at most levels. It bears listening over and over again and like the skin of an onion, more meaning is revealed as the music leads the listener closer to the center of its being.

Tracks: Un Atardecer en Cartagena de Indias; Oye; Yaoundé Tumaco; Bambuco (To Santa Fe de Bogota); Cosita Rica – The Richness of Small Things; La Niña en el Agua – The Girl in the Water (To my love Larita); Macondo (Para Lucho Bermúdez); Ronca el Canalete; Lincoln Tunnel; Rio Magdalena; A Rose (To my grandmother); Chia – The Moon Goddess (La diosa Luna); Camino del Barrio (To my uncle Edy Martinez and all the Musicians from the Golden Era of Salsa in NY).

Personnel: Samuel Torres: congas, kalimba, cajon, Mexican Llaneras, udu, djembe, tambor alegre, guache, Colombian tambora, talking drum, shakers, shakere, cowbell, Brasilian caxixis, African Ago-go, LP lu-bar chimes, percussion effects; Joel Frahm: tenor, soprano saxophones; Michael Rodriguez: trumpet, flugelhorn; Manuel Valera: piano, Fender Rhodes, Nord Keyboards, John Benitez: acoustic, electric basses; Ernesto Simpson: drums; Anat Cohen: clarinet (8); Ralph Irizarry: timbal (10, 14); Sofia Rei Koutsovitis: vocal (9); Andrés Garcia: Colombian Tiple (5).

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Samuel Torres on the web: www.samueltorres.com

Review written by: Raul da Gama

Antonio Arnedo – Colombia – (Adventure Music 2005)

If Lucia Pulido is the doyen of the poetic vocal tradition of Colombian music, Antonio Arnedo is its instrumental ambassador. His cultural collision with the jazz tradition on this remarkable record, Colombia, throws a bright spotlight on his ability to bend, twirl and bubble his breath through saxophone and flute, mixing jazz with classical music and also with the vibrant Afro-Colombian folk music from the Caribbean coast of that country.

Arnedo is a first rate instrumentalist with an unbridled talent for expressing himself in an expansive way on instruments that require a sublime technique and an awesome degree of control. On saxophone and flute – which obviously require large volumes of air and breath control to play his long, loping lines and phrases – Arnedo negotiates complex musical notations with the delicate skill of a fencer. He is El Duende himself as he flits and twists through the melodies and harmonies magically and majestically. To reach this deepest level of the essence of “the song”, Arnedo must strip it of all frills and capture its purest tones and colors of its melodies and harmonies, and the rippling textures of its outer, more obvious rhythms and its inner, more secret ones that speak to the tablet of the heart. This he does, time and time again, by journeying through the universe of the music into the very core of its being – to unleash the spirit of its soul.

This is his viaje and it takes many twists and turns. Visually in “The Drawing” and in a flowing, narrative on ” Blanqueño River” and its confraternal twin, “Variation”. The music is somber on “Slow Pasillo” and dark and elementally mournful on “Sad Allegory”. Throughout, the record inspires a myriad ideas and notions of a cultural tradition that is beautiful and full of human richness. The record also features a group of musicians who have a symbiotic relationship with the music on this record. Ben Monder is exquisitely sympathetic on guitar, almost drone-like in an ascetic, Indian way on “Variation” and “Suspense”. And, of course percussionist, Satoshi Takeshi is deeply mystical as he conjures primeval rhythms that propel Arnedo onward, inward and outward with the fierce power of a vortex. This is jazz at its best, when it is music that surprises, and is in a state of constant evolution from phrase to glorious phrase and from story to epic story.

Tracks Listing: Alegre; The Goblin (El Duende); Drawing (Dibujo); Blanqueño River (Rio Blanqueño); Salu; The Journey (El Viaje); Sad Allegory (Triste Alegoria – {piano}); Slow Pasillo (Pasillo Lento); Variation (Variacion del rio Blanqueño); Cumbia Cienaguera; Suspense (Suspendido); The Journey (El Viaje); Drawing (Dibujo).

Personnel:
Antonio Arnedo: saxophone, gaita, Wooden flute and piano; Ben Monder: guitar; Jairo Moreno: double bass (except on “El Viaje” and La Cumbia Cienaguera”); Satoshi Takeishi: percussion and “chonta” xylophone; Chris Dalhgren: double bass on “El Viaje” and “La Cumbia Cienaguera”; Bruce Saunders: tiple on “Pasillo Lento”.

Review written by: Raul da Gama

Note from the Editor: Originally released independently in 2001, and then re-released in 2005 by Adventure Music, “Colombia” is a rare gem that shouldn’t be overlooked.