Folklore Urbano


Because this blog was just written up in a Semana article on music blogs, I want to take this opportunity to tell everyone about one of the best bands I came across in the last year: Folklore Urbano. They're a New York-based band that takes traditional Colombian music and melds it with a gritty jazz sound to produce some of the most sophisticated, danceable music around today.

[A los no-anglohablantes les pido que me disculpen--escribo este blog en inglés para promocionar la música y cultura colombiana al exterior. Creo que con la riqueza de cultura que tenemos en este país, tenemos la oportunidad de mejorar la imagen de Colombia y atraer el turismo cultural, en vez de el turismo del sexo y de la droga que ahora está muy popular aca en la costa. Otra cosa: soy medio-colombiano. ¡Nací en Bucaramanga! Mi mamá es colombiana, mi papá gringo, entonces toda mi vida he tenido este amor de Colombia.]

Folklore Urbano is led by Pablo Mayor, who grew up near Cali and is the former director of the jazz program at the Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá. Now in New York, he's leading a movement that I've decided to call "Nueva Colombia," which is a very modern take on Colombian folkloric music. Their first album, Aviso, boasts a collection of songs that are truly Colombian but don't at all feel out of place on your iPod when you're walking up Avenue C. This isn't smiley "World Music" that you put on while cleaning the house--this is the cosmopolitanism of '70s jazz, and this is the rock'n'roll that you stumble upon at barebones clubs like Sin-E. There's an anxious intensity to it that captures both the joy and the tensions of modern Colombian life.

But on their upcoming album, Baile!, they've really found their groove. I've only heard some unmastered clips of the recordings, but judging from some of their live shows I've seen earlier this year, the sound is much more confident and much more festive. I expect it to be spectacular.

Just to let you know, it was my dream to bring them down for the festival. I don't think any band out there so completely captures my Colombian musical aesthetic as well as Folklore Urbano. But we simply don't have the funds this year. They're looking to play some shows in Colombia in a few months, so please, colombianos, keep your eyes open for any news. For you New Yorkers, this coming Friday night you can check them out at Satalla, on W. 26th street, at 10 p.m. It'll be a great night of music and dancing, so if you're not leaving for the weekend, you shouldn't miss it.

Note: I love the way that the Semana article has a picture of the new Archer Prewitt record. I saw him at the Bowery Ballroom a few months ago with my friends Caryn and Lexa, and it was a great show. The song, "O, KY," is among my favorite of the year so far.