MIX /// Jazz & Palmwine vol. 1

A colored and jazzy trip with afro, latin and caribbean flavors.

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:

Toto La Momposina and Baranquilla Carnaval Live in La Habana (2013)

Afrocolombian spirit gliding over La Habana, could be a good summary of this unique night, beginning in the Teatro de America, and ending in the streets as an improvised carnaval...

On their way back from Santiago de Cuba (where Fire Festival 2013 had Colombia as special guest), colombian artists including a Baranquilla folkloric group and Toto la Momposina were booked for a concert to share afrocolombian culture, carnaval music and dance. The venue was one of La Habana numerous theaters, Teatro de America, which was open in 1941 (Avenida de Italia, locally know as Galiano) and still transmits the majestic atmosphere from this golden era.

Pico Culture #04 - Soundsystems aesthetics (Baranquilla)

Above painted wood piece is an original decoration from the pico "El Solista", carefully conserved by a fanatical pico lover.

From the 70s each pico developed his own aesthetics through colorful paintings and decorations on the speakers and the control tower. This transmits a real identity to each pico, and can be inspired from pure psychedelic figures (El Dragon, El Cobra), or from personal experiences (for example, El Coreano was created by a colombian man who went to fight in Korea war), or from musical artists (El Pijuan), or from revolutionary figures (El Gran Che, El Gran Fidel). The visual identity personifies the pico, and usually transmits a message of power ("indestructible", "la potencia africana", "guerrillero de la salsa").

Meeting with Lansiné Kouyate and David Neerman (Afrojazz, 2012)

Kouyate-Neerman, Palmwine Mandingo Party, Nuits Sonores 2012.

This unique musical experience is based on a duo: Kouyate, balafon player from Kangaba in Mali, and Neerman a french vibraphone player. More than a cultural meeting, the dialogue between this two cousin instruments is here pretext to creative explorations in rhythm and melody. Taking roots in both jazz and mandingo tradition, the created atmosphere is definitely modern: although recorded in an analog studio, the second album integrates the balafon with breaks and vibraphone effects research. The title "Skycrapers and Deities" reflects perfectly the approach, linking up modernism and tradition, concrete and mysticism, human and god. 

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)

Pico Culture #03 - Mysterious records (Colombia)

In order to maintain exclusivity of tracks played on each pico (and thus gain loyalty of the public who has to go to the party to listen to specific exclusive hits), it was common to tear away or paint the label sothat no one could read the original track. The result is some really unique beautiful pieces, but also some unidentified hits (everyone knows the song but no one knows who was the artist, so the track is only known by his spanish surname). That's the case with the following 7" played by the pico El Dragon, but originally from the famous pico El Coreano.

MIX /// Muzzicaltrips In Colombia

Colombia is surely one of the most impressive country in Latin American, notably due to importance, diversity and quality of his music. Regionalism and opening to numerous influences being two particularities, listing and studying every styles (and sub-styles) becomes quickly a full time job. 

Pico Culture #02 - MIX /// Terapia Africana Mix (A selection of pico african hits)

From the 70s, while the soundsystem culture was developing, more and more african records arrived on the colombian coast due to increasing commercial exchanges between international harbors.

Some african songs became hits, african styles being surnamed: nova for highlife tracks, rastrillo for kenyan tracks... It was such a big success for the youth of Cartagena and Baranquilla that even each popular song received his own surname. Also several tracks have been bootlegged in terapia/champeta  compilations (which leads to find improbable records including a pure benga followed by an awful 80s techno), and not always credited the original artist/title, but just the local surname known by everybody.

Pico Culture #01 - Introducing "El Pico"

A very interesting cultural aspect on the colombian caribbean coast, particularly in Cartagena and Baranquilla  is the Pico Culture. A Pico is a soundsystem that usually plays vinyls (very loud!) during weekends. It developed on the coast from the 60s and evolved up to now with different influences during each decade. The caribbean coast has always been for Colombia the "front door" for other countries, so Baranquilla as principal harbor, received influences (and records) from all around the caribbean and also from Africa. As result, big proportion of the music played is african vinyls from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zaire, Angola (some DJs play 100% african music). But the selection can also be very diverse (cumbia, gaita, guaguanco, pachanga, tumbele, calypso, reggae... ), demonstrating importance of this crossroad within black atlantic interconnections. In parallel, it also developed a local style played on the soundsystems, initially called "Terapia" then "Champeta". Althoug corresponding more to a "80s sound" (including effects and new technical possibilities), it reveals amazing soukous influences which contributed to a kind of renewing of the african consciousness in popular areas of Cartagena and Baranquilla.

MIX /// Muzzicaltrips In Congo (45rpm selection from 1966-74)

A travel around really beautiful rumbas and early soukous, played by orchestras during early years of Congo under Mobutu Sese Seko. Great voices, crazy guitars, sweet horns, in various congolese styles. Selection is based on 45s from Fiesta, African and Pathe labels, which are not extremely rare to bump into in africa as generally not the styles hardly sought after by vinyl diggers, in parallel to be a bit lost in the huge congolese production.

MIX /// Kikiribu (boogaloo, cha cha, latinfunk, descarga, montuno, mapale, salsa, locuras bailables)

An original latin selection full of crazy tracks from Spanish Harlem, Caracas, Lima, Bogota, La Habana... 

"A fumar la pipa de la paz, y bailar la danza boogaloo"...

The Flying Carpet Radioshow

I just had a ride on a musical flying carpet, The Flying Carpet Radioshow (Radio Ciutat Vella FM 100.5 Barcelona). 

An african records selection, and some context.

Listen to the radioshow: 

A muzzicaltrip with ORL

Randy Weston live @ Saint Louis Jazz, Senegal (2007)

A meaningful experience to listen to Randy Weston in Africa...
Being one of the most "african" among the US jazzmen (from Tanger jazz club in the late 60s to Nigeria's FESTAC in 1977) this was his second performance at Saint Louis Jazz Festival (Senegal). His African Rhythms Trio is composed by Alex Blake (bass) and Neil Clarke (drums) both perfect sidemen of this innovative and explorative genius. "African Cookbook" (first track played on the veideo). An this concert ended with Ablaye Cissoko (Kora player from Saint Louis) joining the trio, as a direct (and natural) link to african musical heritage.

MIX /// Tropical Round Trip #3 by Muzzicaltrips (A sound travel around Cuba, Colombia, Peru, Guadeloupe, Benin, Ivory Coast, Angola, Nigeria...)

MIX /// Muzzicaltrips back from Benin (45rpm selection, 70s)

Just to share some freshly found 45s from Benin.

...El Rego, L.A. Aux Ecoutes, Polydisco, Mélomé Clément, Poly-Rythmo, African Songs, Picoby Band, nagra sessions, african scream contest, afro beat, jerk fon...

Enjoy!