Alejo Duran sings and tells his life (Colombian archives, 1986)

Alejo Duran is a legend in Colombia, as king of the most popular style: Vallenato. This day of 1986, going out the recording studio where he comes back to events of his life, Alejo Duran said to the interviewer: "I would like this reel to be kept up to the day I die... supposing this day ever happens". He died three years later and this LP was released in 1989.

Marimba rhythms from Colombia Pacifico

Marimba traveled from Africa (balafon) to Central America and the Caribbean several centuries ago. This percussive and melodic instrument had time to spread and can be found along the Pacific shore from Mexico to Ecuador, where it became an integral part of local folklore (and even national pride in Guatemala).

I had opportunity discover how marimba is played in Central America, but influence of african rhythms is not as significative as in Colombia. In Chocó region, the main folkloric style is the currulao (dance and rhythm), where marimba transmits a unique deep swing. So just a post to share some rough recordings, which will probably sound familiar to you as these rhythms are still source of influence in some modern productions today (and still the base of actual folkloric music from the Pacific area). 

Conjunto Papaupa and a brief glimpse on afro-venezuelan culture

(Music With Soul 7").

Actual growing interest for "tropical" music provides a wide variety of projects and vinyl releases. Muzzicaltrips looked into a afro-venezuelan influenced project (Conjunto Papa Upa, from the Netherlands based label Musicwithsoul), a very good actual DJ friendly sound, loaded with interesting traditional elements. This was opportunity to exchange with the father of this project, Alex Figueira, a real music specialist on the (yet little documented) afro-venezuelan culture.

Lets  start with a synthetic 7 minutes historical introduction to afro-venezuelan culture:

Yusef Lateef in Nigeria (African tradition + jazz experiment, 1983)

(Landmark LLP-502).

Flute and tenor sax player Yusef Lateef (1920-2013) just passed away, so here's a post dedicated to this real sound explorer (before being a jazzman), who integrated eastern or african influences in many of his recordings. Famous for his deep, free and spiritual music all along the 60's and 70's in the US, he also directly enriched his open-minded approach spending years in Nigeria in the early 80's.

Kossou Houechehoun et son Groupe Folklorique Guê (Benin, 70s)

(PALP 002).

This folkloric music comes from Mina people (South of Benin and Togo) which have a very rich musical heritage.

Carnaval in Santiago de Cuba (1960s)

(Le Chant du Monde, LDX 4250).

Carnavals tour stops for sure in Cuba, through the release of this LP by french label Le Chant du Monde. Liner notes from the cuban writer Alejo Carpentier remind the historical background of original african and Spanish influences blending in Santiago, the second city founded in Cuba.

Gansou Nestor et son groupe folklorique de Tchingounme (Benin, 70s)

(Ets PHILI D'OR AZP003).

Initially a sacred rhythm played to put the curse aside after a death, "Tchinkoumé" became a popular celebratory music from Savalou region (in Benin, just north from the coastal areas when the hills begin).

Palenque culture #01 Palenque de San Basilio

Palenque de San Basilio is a village not far from Cartagena in Colombia (here), which represents a really unique cultural space. At the dawn of the17th century, several groups of african slaves escaped from spanish settlers, building fortified villages called "palenques". San Basilio village, led originally by african king Benkos Bohio, is the only one who survived up to nowadays.

Living during centuries away from occidental and spaniard influences allowed to maintain alive in the community many aspects of the original african culture: social organization (for example age group structures called "kuadro"), rites and believes (based on 3 different worlds) , creole language (taking his roots in bantu language), hairstyles (plaits, supposed to be originally designed in order to reproduce a map of the trails around the village), traditional medicines...

For sure, the drum tradition in the village  is fully representative of these african roots, and is articulated around the three main drums as follows:  

- llamador (small drum, for the tempo)

- alegre (bigger drum, for the solos)

- tamborera (bass drum with sticks)

(additionally, funerals can include a huge drum called pechiche)

Afroperuvian instruments and rhythms (Extended Black Atlantic folklore)

A special post to discover various instruments and rhythms from the afroperuvian musical environment. Afro culture in Peru is direct consequence to slavery of various african ethnic groups brought until 1850. A kind of "identidad costena" (coastal identity) has been developed by the black people and afrodescendientes on the pacific coast, culturally totally different from interior's andean mountains (in some aspects, this regional specificity that can remind La Cuesta in Colombia).

Lyrichord label discography

Here's the list y of "Ethnies Series" from this label which was one of the pioneers releasing ethnomusicologists field recordings from the 50's.

Unidentified "jungle sax jam" recordings from Casamance (Senegal, 2000s)

Spending entire afternoons listening to music in small music shops, you can sometime fall into crazy sounds that even the guy from the shop is not able to name. This track comes from one of these CDs...