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). 

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").

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)

Balla Onivogui - Paulette (Orchestra Balla et ses Balladins from Guinea, 1980)

(Syliphone SLP75).

To recall Balla Onivogui's memory who left us few time ago (march 2011), lets share one of Balla et ses Balladins late LP from 1980.

Le Sahel Revival in Dakar!!! (Ephemeral 70's band from Senegal)

This is a very special post as something big is happening in Dakar right now... The mythic band Le Sahel will play live again next this week.

Le Sahel, named from the club they were playing during the mid 70s, was composed by master musicians and mixed latin rhythms and sabar, giving birth to a unique senegalese style.

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