Gaiterolog

La Cumbiamba Live on Soundcheck

2006-11-22T14:07:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, La Cumbiamba appeared on WNYC's Soundcheck, hosted by John Schaefer, for a performance of two songs and an interview with frontman Martin Vejarano. You can listen for free at: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/episodes/2006/11/21

Have a listen and let me know what you think, but I'm a little disappointed that Schaefer went directly for the topic of war in Colombia instead of focusing on the most interesting story, which is that the NYC Colombian music scene is so tight and exciting that Marta Gomez showed up as a guest vocalist on "El Arenal." I mean, isn't this the big deal? Marta, famous for her gentle, breezy melodies, shows up practically unannounced to sing with the rollicking eNeYé? I get the feeling that some people wanted to hear the acoustic, gaita y tambor songs that have such an African feel to them--and that they heard the big band sound as being less authentic in some way. But I guess this is part of the process of teaching people about Colombian music. The cumbia and the fandango (they played "Andando Vengo") are authentic Afro-Colombian sounds, just different styles. I agree it's a shame they couldn't play an acoustic song, but there will be more time for that.

Thanks to everyone who got our CD after hearing the interview--if you're new to the Chonta sound, then welcome. We have lots of new gigs to tell you about, so please keep checking in.

A Better Place for your Colombian Music Fix

2006-11-13T11:27:00.000-05:00

Hello! If you're here, you've probably noticed that I haven't updated this thing in months. Which isn't to say we haven't been busy--Chonta Records is about to release its sixth CD, and just last night we had the wonderful Encuentro of Colombian Musicians here in New York City. We have a new website, lots of new press, and a lot of energy after a great 2006.

But you want a blog that keeps you well informed about Colombian music? Well, check out Notas del Bajo Mundo, a vlog/blog that is getting a lot of attention from the Colombian music scene. It's something we've really needed, and I strongly suggest you go to check it out.

And maybe we'll get into a better updating habit here, too.

Ricardo Gallo

2006-04-04T22:09:00.000-05:00

Last week was Ricardo Gallo's CD release in the U.S. for his debut solo album, Los Cerros Testigos. It's a great Colombian jazz CD by a pianist/composer whose songs bear the mark of his extraordinary intelligence. This is a jazz CD, with challenging tunes that effortlessly incorporate elements of traditional Colombian music. In some ways, it is the yin to (Folklore Urbano's) Baile's yang.

This is especially important to Chonta because it marks the first dual release with Bogota's artist collective, La Distritofonica. Ricardo is an active member of La Distritofonica, and he is also a member of the fantastic Bogota jazz group, Asdrubal.

I'm so happy to be a part of this, and I'll have a review of the album up this weekend.

Fashion review: Ladeeda purses!

2006-03-16T16:27:00.000-05:00

I don't often post on non-music topics, but I have to let you know about my favorite New York purse company: Ladeeda. Well, I have a bias here, because my girlfriend is one of the sisters behind the bags, but I do think they're great! And they were featured in the magazine, Shop, Etc., this month.

The bags are made of vinyl and leather, and all of the designs are hand-sewn and one-of-a-kind. The designs vary from the abstract expressionism of the bag at the left to lots of flower petal designs. And starting at $80, they're a great value for some NYC style.

Basically, they're perfect for carrying your Chonta CDs to a night of dancing cumbia :)

Colombian Jazz written up in Colombian press

2006-03-09T21:11:00.000-05:00

This week's issue of Semana (the Time magazine of Colombia) has a great article on Colombian jazz. The talk a lot about Medillin group Puerto Candelaria, who have become something of the standard-bearers of Colombian jazz. But there's also a great bit on Chonta artist Ricardo Gallo's new album, Los Cerro Testigos, which in a rough translation calls it "something more rhythmically risky." Ricardo is quoted as saying that he "wanted my music to contain new textures, and even though I'm not a traditionalist, that there would be an allusion to tradition."

There's also a mention of La Distritofonica artist Asdrubal, whose CD I've listened to a bit, and I want to write about them soon. But Ricardo's CD is so much better! This Colombian jazz, along with the resurgence in traditional Colombian music, is really the new thing!

Can't say enough good things about Folklore Urbano...

2006-03-07T01:27:00.000-05:00

O.K., so I'm not the world's best blogger. I'm too busy and too unfocused for this kind of writing, but enough of you still stop by here that it's worth pointing out to you some brand new reviews of Folklore Urbano that just appeared at Descarga.com.

Pablo Mayor Y Folklore Urbano
Aviso
CD (Chonta Records) 2003
The first volume of a two cd series that might just go down as a classic in 20 or 30 years. A synthesis of a bunch of Colombian rhythms and jazz improvisation — Andy Gonzalez is on bass — it all sounds honest. In part this is due to Mayor’s piano playing. He’s calm, and a real improviser; he’s not flashing lines, but playing melodies and rhythms. There are a few horns to play the melodies, plus three Colombian percussionists; it’s recorded beautifully. There are elements of Cuban music in some montunos, but it has that caballo sway of Colombian music. Because of its clarity, and simplicity, the music can be listened to over and over. It’s real.
Highly Recommended. (Peter Watrous, 06-Mar-06)
Category: Latin Jazz => Latin Jazz
ORDER TL-21632.10 CD $16.98 Add to My Shopping Cart

Pablo Mayor Y Folklore Urbano
Baile/ Dance
CD (Chonta Records) 2005
The dance, and second volume of the highly ambitious two cd series by the pianist Pablo Mayor. This one has faster rhythms, vocalists, and dance music arrangements. It’s also brilliant music, laid over rhythms from Colombia. There are solos, too, and Mayor nods in the direction of Herbie Hancock among others. The percussion rhythm section boils.
Highly Recommended. (Peter Watrous, 06-Mar-06)
Category: Latin Jazz => Latin Jazz
ORDER TL-21631.10 CD $16.98 Add to My Shopping Cart

Isn't this something? Their gig in Brooklyn, at the Brooklyn Museum's First Friday, was unbelievable, and a just over a week ago they introduced their sound to an enthusiastic crowd at Philly's World Cafe Live.

Things at Chonta are going so well. We have a double-release on March 28--Ricardo Gallo and La Cumbiamba eNeYe! They'll be celebrating the release at a show at Makor (92nd St. Y), and we expect people just to love this combo. I'll tell you all about them soon.

But I wanted this blog to be much more than a promo site for Chonta. To that end we're going to be building a blog that will allow musicians from Chonta, La Distritofonica, and more to talk about music and share sounds with each other. That way fans and newcomers will be able to learn about the music and participate in this amazing scene that's going on these days.

But until then, just spread the word on Folklore, O.K.?

2 new reviews of Folklore Urbano

2006-01-12T16:27:00.000-05:00

Over the holiday week there were 2 new, glowing reviews of Baile/Dance, which I'm happy to share with you here. First, World Music Central said, "Chonta Records, a new record label based in New York, has certainly made a great impression with its first release. Dance Baile by Folklore Urbano automatically became an editor's pick at World Music Central for top 10 albums of 2005." Top 10 albums!

Then, Richard Antone of the Bucks County Courier Times listed Baile/Dance as among his "Overlooked CDs of 2005," saying, "There aren't enough hours in the day for Pablo Mayor. When not busy as a music professor, the pianist-arranger for Qrquesta Broadway leads his own band, Folklore Urbano. The twelve-member New York city-based band is part of the growing music scene known as Nueva Colombia. Combining traditional Colombian percussion with improvisation and jazz rhythm and horn sections, it makes for quite an innovative and exciting sound. Ebullient vocalist Ronald Polo and his enthusiastic bandmates have an eclectic collective background, including stints with Chico 'O Farrill, Maria Schneider, the Vanguard Jazz Irchestra and the Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. Folklore Urbano is shaking up the New York world and Latin music scenes with some of the freshest sounds around."

Send your own reviews, and I'll post them!

Sonidos Colombianos

2006-01-07T13:59:00.000-05:00

After a luxuriously relaxing week in Virgin Gorda, of the British Virgin Islands, I'm back in New York. And already Colombian music is everywhere (I missed it so much!) Last night, Folklore Urbano played to a packed house at S.O.B.'s, and it's clear that this band keeps picking up more and more fans. They're playing Philly next month, and we're trying to line up some festival gigs for the spring and summer. Also, La Cumbiamba has finished the remastering of their debut CD, and we'll have a release date set for sometime next month.

But if you can't wait that long for new Colombian music, try the great program, "Sonidos Colombianos," on 89.9 WKCR Columbia University Radio, from 10-11 p.m. every Sunday night. Hosted by my friend, Sadys Espitia, it's a great mix of all the styles of Colombian music. New Yorkers, just tune into 89.9. To listen to WKCR on your computer, just click here.

Here's a description from the WKCR website:

Sonidos Colombianos presents the music from one of the most culturally diverse countries of Latin America: Colombia! Every Sunday night join us as we explore the sounds from the legendary town of "Macondo". Our bilingual musical tour is guaranteed to include not only "cumbia", but also the guitar-based "bambuco" from the Andean region, the harp "llanero" music from the Eastern Plains, and the accordion-driven "vallenato" of the North Atlantic Coast. Sonidos Colombianos also features the big band music from the 50's, to the newer afro-caribbean music called "champeta". And let's not forget the "salsa" from Cali, the "salsa capital of South America". The last program of each month focuses on one specific musical genre, group or composer.

Chonta enters the digital world

2005-12-08T00:17:00.000-05:00

Hello there! It's been a few days, and this is just another little plug for the record label: Baile/Dance! is now available to buy online, at Calabash Music. Songs are just $0.99 apiece, and there's a special 20-songs-for-$14.99 deal, too. We're really excited about this.

It's been a while since I've posted something non-promotional here, or at least those sorts of posts have been few and far between. As you can imagine, my day job and the rapid developments on the record label front have been keeping me really busy. Moreover, my girlfriend, Mia, who's responsible for our lovely online store, is having a party tomorrow night for the purse company she runs with her sisters. And on top of everything, I've come down with some sort of bug that has run me down.

So there will be some quality posts coming up in the next week, because there's some great material out there, and I do want to share it with you. Until then, chao!

Chonta Store!

2005-12-01T00:28:00.000-05:00

We've been working on this for a long time, but the Chonta Store is finally online! You make easy and secure payments through trusted PayPal (owned by Ebay), and we'll put your CDs in the mail as soon as we can. Right now, we're offering Folklore Urbano's Baile/Dance! and Aviso, and any day now we'll be offering Coba's self-titled debut album. Also, look for a unique Chonta Christmas package, offering both of Folklore's CDs, specially wrapped and specially priced!

Also, please remember that buying through our website ensures that more money goes to the artist. We're a 50/50 record company, which means that we split all costs and profits equally with the artists. It also means that we don't make wild investments in recording and marketing expenses--but we believe that this form of business is more just and more sustainable than most others in the record industry (and I'd like to thank Thrill Jockey Records for providing the example that I'm following here). The only way you're going to get more money directly into the hands of the artist is to buy the CD at their concert--but if you can't make it to a show, or you just can't wait that long, then go to the Chonta Store!

Suburban Kids with Biblical Names

2005-11-29T15:05:00.000-05:00

A break from Colombian music today. Yesterday was Pablo Mayor's birthday, and a whole slew of musicians and Colombians (and Colombian musicians, too) filled his Astoria apartment for a surprise party thrown by his wife, Anna. Today I'm a little tired, the New York sky is dreary, and the apartment has no hot water, so I need a pick-me-up...

Not everybody knows this, but my other big musical obsession is with Swedish music. This year has been full of Sambassadeur, Jens Lekman, Dungen, and El Perro del Mar, and I can tell you more about them later. But today I can't stop listening to the Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, whose new CD, #3, is sure to be a great antidote to the coming winter blues. They're kind of like Jens in their oddly clever lyrics ("Any old chance I get I'm gonna marry you... Any old chance I get I'm gonna buy you stuff..."), but younger and sillier. On the goofy electro-folk-funk of "Loop Duplicate my Heart," (mp3) a song devoted to making music on a computer, they sing, "The neighbors can't complain 'cause I got my headphones on," and the killer pick-up line, "So many interesting effects, I want to try them all on you." The aforementioned "Marry Me" and "Seems to Be on My Mind" show much more maturity in terms of songwriting, with well-placed minor chords and catchy choruses. And then there's the fun "Rent-a-Wreck,"(mp3) which is perfect for bedroom dancing. Oh, and "Little Boys in the Ghetto" is a perfect album-ender for Swedish indie-popsters raised on Warren G and Nate Dogg (on Hammer Hill?).

The thing I love most about Swedish music is something I love about Colombian music, too--the mastery of the music and the sophisticated songwriting combined with a great pop sensibility. Both Colombia and Sweden have a disproportionate number of international pop stars, and their music always sounds fresh and fun. In Sweden music education begins at a very early age, and even though the Colombian education system doesn't provide the same resources, many young Colombians learn to play instruments from childhood. It's something in the culture. Oh--and they love licorice-flavored drinks, too! Well, I still haven't been to Sweden, but something tells me they would love Colombia.

We have two new bands!

2005-11-28T11:03:00.000-05:00

Chonta Records is thrilled to announce the signing of two bands, La Cumbiamba eNeYe and Coba, who are integral members of the flourishing Colombian music scene in New York. Chonta will release La Cumbiamba’s first CD, Marioneta, in December, and Coba’s second CD will be released in early 2006.

La Cumbiamba eNeYe is the greatest crowd-pleaser of the NYC Colombian scene, which includes fellow Chonta artist, Pablo Mayor – Folklore Urbano, as well as Chesky Records singer/songwriter Marta Gomez and harp virtuoso Edmar Castaneda. La Cumbiamba’s music, built on sophisticated compositions and an ebullient live show, draws from the rhythms of Colombian folkloric music, especially from the Afro-Colombian rhythms of the country’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts. This is the same area that has spawned such international stars as Toto la Momposina, Grupo Bahia, and Cabas.

Marioneta allows fans to experience the band’s highly praised live show at home. This live show, which has moved audiences in such prestigious venues as Symphony Space, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, and Central Park Summerstage in New York, has won them a following among many young fans of danceable Latin music. Each show is a party, but it is also an homage to the masters in Colombia who invented and wrote many of these rhythms and songs. La Cumbiamba’s frontman, Martin Vejerano, has recorded with master musicians such as Gaiteros de San Jacinto and Jose “Guajalo” Torres.

Coba is the brainchild of composing wunderkind and guitarist Sebastian Cruz, a Colombian from Bogotá who creates beautiful songs by combining Colombian sounds with modern elements. The lyrics tend towards the personal, which gives a unique depth for Colombian music. Cruz works extensively with giants of Colombian music, such as Ivan Benavides and Lucia Pulido, who both contributed to his self-titled first album.

With these signings, NYC-based Chonta Records cements itself as a leader of the promotion of a fresh and innovative music scene that stretches from New York to Bogotá and throughout Colombia.

For more information, please contact:

Robert Kelley
Chonta Records
{contact} (at) {chontarecords} [dot] {com}

What an encuentro!

2005-11-21T13:28:00.000-05:00

Did you know that the Encuentro was chosen by the NYPost as a "Hotpick" for this past weekend? Maybe that explains why hundreds of people showed up, filling the place by 7 p.m. and leaving it packed and overcrowded (to the point of a fire hazard--really) by the time La Cumbiamba had the place rocking a few hours later. I'm not going to tell you about all the bands, but I will say that Lucia Pulido and Coba made a stunning combination, Marta Gomez completely controlled the room for her 30-minute set, and Folklore Urbano delivered as the final act of the night, bringing the whole crowd to its feet. But really, the stunner of the night was Edmar Castañeda, whose performance on the harp was spellbinding. People around me were crying. How can someone do so much with a harp? I mean, the guy has played Carnegie Hall, but I really didn't expect this. He has a record out in a week, I'll try to find some more info on it.

But the big news is that we've signed La Cumbiamba and Coba to Chonta Records! La Cumbiamba has a CD that they've self-released, but we're in the process of remixing and remastering it right now, and we're going to re-release it within a month. And Coba's first CD will be available on our store this week, when the store goes live. And also, Sebastian Cruz, the songwriting prodigy behind Coba, will be going back into the studio early next year to put together a new album with a stripped-down sound. I'll post the press release here later.

BTW, send any e-mail to contact [at] chontarecords {dot}com. No spam!

Scooped?

2005-11-20T14:44:00.000-05:00

We were listed on a directory of record labels, but if you look closely, you'll see that there's some news there that we haven't announced yet. The plan is to make it public tonight, at the Encuentro, and I'll have a lot more to share about it this coming week.

Also we stayed in last night working on the new website and Chonta Records Store. Now Mia just has to finish the programming, and we should be able to offer you our music directly through the internets. And it looks so good! You'll see soon enough.

Chonta Recrods getting noticed on the net

2005-11-19T18:33:00.000-05:00

worldmusiccentral.org has a brief article announcing Chonta Records! Also, the Chonta Records Store is about to go live, I'll let you know when it does. And we've been working all day on redesigning the full, "robust" site, which will enable us to post more info about our new artists and let people learn more about us.

Review for Baile/Dance!

2005-11-18T13:37:00.000-05:00

Spanish speakers out there can read the new review of Folklore Urbano's Baile/Dance! at laconga.org. Non-Spanish-speakers can take our word that it is a great review, and he says that the songs, "with the proper radio and marketing campaign, could be Colombian dance hits at an international level," and he predicts big stardom for lead singer Ronald Polo. He also pays some props to Chonta Records--which only puts that much more pressure on us to provide that proper marketing support, try to get these songs on the radio and in people's ears. We're not looking to create the next reggaeton here, but this is definitely music that could be popularized on a wide, wide basis.

The Encuentro is this Sunday night, read below for more details.

Afro-Colombian Podcast

2005-11-16T14:59:00.000-05:00

Back in June Seattle's best radio station, KEXP 90.3FM, broadcast a show focusing on Afro-Colombian music, which incuds some of the old legends as well as some of the "Nueva Colombia" scene. The show is narrated by a Colombian, Federico Ardila, of the Washington University Mathematics Department. The highlights for me include my favorite, Etelvina Maldonado, as well as Toto la Momposina, Batata, Carlos Vives, Aterciopelados, Sidestepper, and the Neuva Colombia sounds of Curupira and Mojarra Electrica.

You can download the parts and listen to them like a podcast.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

3rd Annual Encuentro

2005-11-15T11:51:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again when the best Colombian musicians in New York get together and show the City the collective talent of this group of artists. The event, the 3rd Annual "Encuentro" of Colombian Musicians, takes place this Sunday, November 20, at Satalla, 37 W. 26th St., at 6:00 p.m. The show will feature short sets from a variety of artists, ranging from new acts to established stars, like Marta Gomez.

Best of all, it will be a good showcase for Chonta bands. I hope that at the Encuentro we'll be able to officially announce the addition of two bands to our roster.

Here's the line-up:

6:00 Trinidad Guitar Trio
6:30 Samurindo
7:00 Johanna Castaneda
7:15 Andrea Tierra (pictured)
7:45 Sativasur
8:15 Kosta
8:45 Coba w/ Lucia Pulido
9:15 Harold Gutierrez
9:45 La Cumbiamba eNeYe
10:15 Marta Gomez
10:45 Folklore Urbano
11:15 Edmar Castaneda

Chonta Records

2005-11-14T01:55:00.000-05:00

It has been a while, but so much has been going on, I've decided to start writing this thing again. The big news is that in NYC we've started a new record label, Chonta Records, dedicated to Colombian and other Latin music. One of the cornerstones of this label is the young scene of Colombian artists, both in Colombia and in the U.S., who are experimenting with new, exciting sounds while at the same time paying homage to the legendary musicians of several generations ago. These bands in New York include La Cumbiamba Eneye, Coba, and Pablo Mayor - Folklore Urbano, whose second album, Baile/Dance!, is our first release. The whole NYC Colombian scene is playing Satalla this weekend--come join us, and there will be lots more to come.

Lost rhythms

2005-06-08T17:01:00.000-05:00

Saturday night Kit and I headed out to Bocachica, a village on the nearby island of Tierra Bomba (which I likened to Staten Island in an earlier post). When we arrived, we were told that our musician friends had come across a legend of local folkloric rhythms.

On the left is Etelvina Maldonado, and on the right is Victor "El Doctor." In the middle is an 85-year-old resident of Bocachica and the last remaining player of a lost Afro-Colombian rhythm. Victor searched for him on the island and convinced him to teach him the rhythm. As the two of them played, dozens of people from the village gathered around to listen and to sing.

Later that night the musicians played to celebrate the birthday of a local dancer. A highlight was seeing Etelvina sing with a beautiful young girl, maybe 20, who sings bullerengue as well. I marveled at the way these songs could go on for 10 or 12 minutes, with the same refrain, but with the singers taking turns improvising lyrics pertaining to the theme of the song. Don't you see? It's jazz! It's hip-hop!

The party went all night, and the next morning we toured the village: no running water, very little tourism, but no crime or squalor. With Etelvina and her husband we toured a minor fort located on the southern tip of the island, which was used as an arrival point for African slaves in colonial times. When a local told us that the Spanish would fill the moat with sharks in order to prevent any slaves from escaping, Etelvina's husband turned visibly furious. "That's how the Spanish treated the blacks!" he shouted. People don't tend to talk much about race here, but on that poor island, staring at history, it seemed entirely appropriate.

Umm, an update

2005-06-03T00:56:00.000-05:00

I wish I could tell you more about what's been happening here with the festival, but I'm not allowed. Long story. I promise, you'll hear some news soon.

Also I have a couple of great entries planned for this page. Was going to have one for tonight, but the subject of the interview found himself in a broken-down car, so we had to postpone.

My friend Kit is visiting this week, it's been a lot of fun so far. Owing in large part to his formidable skills as a cook. Another holiday weekend coming up in Colombia, but it'll be busy.

Hasta pronto....

This is the life...

2005-05-29T23:48:00.000-05:00

Over the holiday weekend, Mia and I headed out to the Islas del Rosario for a couple days of relaxing, kayaking, snorkeling, and eating fish. And of course we were music-geeky enough to bring along an iPod and speakers. In fact, the whole thing was a comedy of errors featuring two New Yorkers "roughing it" at the Hotel San Pedro de Majagua, the exclusive private island resort run by the Hotel Santa Clara. I nearly lost it when the mosquitos poured in after sunset. But after feasting on us, they soon left, and later in the evening we watched a beautiful lightning storm from the private beach in the picture above.

For me, it was probably my last moment of calmness until the festival--big news coming this week, please stay tuned.

Finally, a picture of Etelvina

2005-05-28T22:06:00.000-05:00

On the right is Etelvina Maldonado, a singer in Cartagena and a living legend of bullerenge, a style of music that relies on women's voices and complex percussion. I really wish I could show each and every one of you the power of one of her concerts (those of you living in Colombia should do everything you can to see her perform sometime). To her right is Victor "El Doctor," one of the country's most talented percussionists. They're also great people, and you can imagine how fun a beach trip is when they're along!

Sidestepper

2005-05-24T00:19:00.000-05:00


Electronic music hasn't made the inroads into Colombian culture that it has in several other countries, such as Peru, for instance.  However, there's quite a bit going on here, and I suspect that with some digging, one could come across a great scene.  You don't need to look any farther than Colombia's best rock group, Aterciopelados, to hear the potential that Colombian electronic music has (

Hector Buitrago, the electronic-minded half of Aterciopelados, showed his best work on the band's 2000 album, Gozo Poderoso).

This group probably isn't new to many of you who live in Colombia, but I'm new to Sidestepper, the brainchild of UK native Richard Blair, who with Colombian rock legend, Ivan Benavides, has put together a couple of albums of subtle grooves intertwined with Colombian rhythms and melodies (and also some Cuban and Jamaican dancehall sounds, which I'm less fond of). The most recent album, 3am: In Beats We Trust, kicks off with the stunning "Deja (Mary)" (listen to a sample here), a hypnotic and haunting tune with a track so soothing you could listen to it for ages. Another song in this vein is "Dame tu querer," with a beautiful string track and vocal.

I think what makes Blair so successful here is his background as a drum'n'bass artist. Drum'n'bass has always been one of the most fascinating genres of electronic music to me, mostly because its rhythms are so animalistic and mechanical at the same time, but also because of its modernist simplicity. Blair's at his best when he uses the mixing tables to subtract complexity from the arrangements, leaving the listener to hear the beauty in the elements of the songs.

Sidestepper is another example of the way that traditional Colombian music is alive in a really exciting manner. And with the wealth of material here at his disposal, the project should keep improving. I'm trying to get in touch with Richard for an interview with this site, and hopefully next time I'm in Bogotá, I'll be able to catch him spinning at Quiebra Canto.

Folklore Urbano

2005-05-22T12:13:00.000-05:00


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.

Suffering a little bit...

2005-05-19T23:11:00.000-05:00

This festival is supposed to begin exactly five weeks from tonight. However, our current sponsorship level is minimal, to put it optimistically. So a crisis point is looming, where we really have to look at what we can do with what we have now, and just go for it. The sad part is, what we have now is not much, so we're probably going to have to cut pretty deeply into our current plans. Here's a list of elements that could get the axe:

One night of the festival (likely the night in the Teatro Heredia, since it costs money)
International acts (very costly since we have to pay travel)
Bogotá act (see above)
Gastronomical part of the festival

The problem is that if we cut too deeply, we cease to be a festival. But if we don't cut, we lose money. The key is to find a way to do something fun, that generates real excitement in the city, and allows us to build for next year. (Festival planning is, by the way, the best networking exercise in the world.) My preference is to do a 2-day festival in the Claustro de Santo Domingo with only local acts. Our current level of sponsorship could cover this. If we get some more money, I say we add the gastronomical part--before international artists--because people remember the overall experience more than they do a simple concert.

Who knows, though. Maybe a pot of money will fall out of a coconut tree tomorrow morning and right into my hands.

Tonight was fun, I scored an invitation to a private performance by the Colegio del Cuerpo at the Teatro Heredia. It was held for a German-Colombian business congress, and so I even had the opportunity to practice my German a little bit. The performance was unbelievable--that such world class modern dance can come out not just of Cartagena, but of the poorest slums of Cartagena, is amazing. These kids have talent, like NYC talent. Hats off to Alvaro Restrepo, he really has done something awe-inspiring.

More work tomorrow, but Mia arrives for a visit this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to worrying a little bit less and enjoying this city a little bit more. And what's more, I can't wait until she sees Cartagena for the first time. There's no way she can anticipate how beautiful this place is.

El Aprendiz

2005-05-17T18:07:00.000-05:00


This is my last post from Bogotá, at least for a few weeks. I'm sitting in the airport, loving the free wireless, ready for the beach (although my flight is now delayed due to storms in Cartagena).

Anyway a great story to share. Today I stopped sulking about the slow pace of everything, and insisted instead on hitting the phones to knock on some doors, some new, some not. First to knock, first admitted, right? One sponsor I've been trying to get a hold of is Aviatur, Colombia's largest travel agency. Seriously, they're like the Starbucks of travel agencies, they're so ubiquitous. But I had no contact with them, and one of my contacts in Bogota sent me the name of the president, Jean Claude Bessudo, and urged me simply to call him. Just call Aviatur, ask for the president, and ask for a sponsorship. Well, that's the coldest of a cold call I've ever made, but I was in a mood, right?, so I called. They put me through to his secretary, who informed me Sr. Bessudo would be out until the afternoon, but if I left my cell number, he'd call me later. So I left it, and promptly started making other calls.

There's another thing about Jean Claude Bessudo: He's playing the Donald Trump role in the Colombian version of "The Apprentice." Right, and so in this bizarre parellel world that is Colombia, I was calling Donald Trump right out of the blue.

A few hours later I was wrapping up some work and getting ready to head to the airport when my phone rang; it was Bessudo.

BESSUDO: (All in Spanish, of course, but I'm translating/paraphrasing) Sr. Kelley?
ME: Yes?
B: This is Jean Claude Bessudo.  How can I help you.
ME: Oh, I... I'm organizing this festival in Cartagena, it's going to have music and food... Like jazz mixed with Colombian... Tourism! You could sell packages--
B: Stop.  Just put it in a proposal and send it to me.  My e-mail address is... (Screams away from phone) Hey what's my e-mail address??
PHONE ON HOLD
SECRETARY: Sr. Kelley?  Sr. Bessudo's e-mail address is...

As you can see, I bombed. And in true Trump fashion, Bessudo made me pay. But I think I got too much of a kick out of the whole thing to feel too rejected, and so I dove right into the proposal letter, and I laid it on thick, the all-out sell. Trump would have been proud.

Capital City

2005-05-17T00:08:00.000-05:00


In Bogota for the weekend, and it's never entirely pleasant. There's something about this city I love, but also something that really gets me down. It rains almost every day, it's chilly (maybe 60F), and the people have that big-city attitude that doesn't exist along the coast. So I wasn't really thrilled about coming here, but Saturday night I had probably my best time ever in Bogota. A little past ten I met up with my friend Sebastian at a place in the north called Full 80's, which, as you might have guessed, played a lot of 80s music. Not entirely my thing. But we drank a lot of aguardiente (colombian liquor that takes some getting used to but is really a treat), and towards 2 a.m. a small group of us decided that the night couldn't end anytime soon. And so we went to an after-hours salsa club in the Zona Rosa, which is a party district also in the north of the city. The place was in the second story of a building, had a full live salsa band, and maybe 12 tables. I danced and danced, and I didn't want to leave when my group started heading out. But when we pushed open the door, we were met with pure morning--it was almost 7 a.m. Sunday, predictably, was pretty difficult to get through.

I did manage to get to the movies Sunday night with Andres and Maria Paula, and we sawa Chilean film called Machuca, a movie about two boys, one rich and one poor, growing up in Chile in the early 1970s. It was really well done, all props to the filmmakers for making an effort to tell a balanced story about such a political story.

Today marked a return to work, and I'm not really crazy about how the day went. I had another sponsorship meeting that went very well, but once again the guy I talked to said he had to get permission from somebody else. Sounds to me (and Tom said this, too) like the guy just punted. I understand that people are hesitant to sponsor an event that's never happened before, but the amount we're asking for is so small (for a multinational company) that I think it should be well worth the risk. I'm sorry, I'm actually feeling really down about things right now; maybe it's just Bogota getting to me, but I could really use a shot in the arm sometime soon.

Another treat tonight, though: had dinner in the Macarena, which is Bogota's equivalent of the East Village. Almost definitely where I'd want to live if I had to stay here. Went to a rustic restaurant, half the time we were serenaded by Massive Attack, the other half by Barry White. This I can handle.

The press campaign begins...

2005-05-14T10:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I woke up and headed to a meeting with Jorge Araujo, the Founder and CEO of Amazon Pepper Sauce, which is based in Cartagena. When I walked into his spacious apartment, he greeted me by saying, "You don't have to say anything, I read your whole story in the paper this morning!" And he showed me that morning's copy of El Universal, with a full-page article on the festival, along with a goofy picture of me and Tom. My lesson learned: a press campaign is something that has to be managed carefully--if you don't specify exactly what message you want to convey, then it's unlikely that message will get out. In fact the article is fine, but from now on I'm going to be a lot more diligent in preparing for these interviews. And I'm going to make sure I approve of any pictures that run. :)

In the afternoon I headed to the airport to fly to Bogota for the weekend. Two people I had met before came up to me in the check-in line and talked to me about the morning's article. Then, in the waiting room, I ran into Cartagena's best-known Fusion group, Wayové, who were on their way to Toronto for a small tour of Canada. (If you happen to be in Toronto on May 22, go check them out at Lula Lounge.) Just minutes before our flight was scheduled to depart, a massive tropical thunderstorm struck and kept us delayed two hours. And so Wayové and I sat around and talked about music, and they broke out some instruments and sang some songs. It's their first-ever trip to North America, so they were all in great spirits, and it was the best flight delay I've ever had.

However, when I got to Bogota, I had very little time to rush to the National University (my mom's alma mater!) to see Nathalie Gampert's group, Bajos Distintos, performing at the Festival de Fusion. Just before the show I met up with Cristina Lleras, the ex-roommate of my good friend, Raphaela Neihausen, at Georgetown. I had never met Cristina before, but being Raphaela's friend she's kind and sweet and smart, and she had already purchased a ticket for me (you have to keep in mind I'm lugging around my suitcase and computer all across the Nacional's sprawling campus), and we entered the 1600-seat Leon de Greif Auditorium for a great show. After Nathalie's performance, a rising Bogota band, Mojarra Electrica, brought down the house with pure party music and a makeshift parade through the aisles. It was fun, but it demonstrated some of the issues instrumental music (which Nathalie does) will always have competing with bands featuring singers. In general, crowds just like singers. Of course, I think there's room for both styles, but some people will never be satisfied without singers.

Afterwards we had dinner at a restaurant called 1492, which really has nothing on Clinton Street's 1492. My plate, a cheese-stuffed trout, was simply wrong. And the music in that restaurant... O.K., a plea to Colombian bars and restaurants: your inexplicable continuing obsession with '80s rockers Toto is endearing, but can you please let me eat a meal without having to hear "Hotel California" or "Dust in the Wind"? Please?

2005-05-12T16:18:00.000-05:00

If you lived in Cartagena, where would you live? Maybe this guide will give you an idea. Oh God, I'm afraid this will only be amusing to the 14 people out there in the world who are well familiar with both NYC and Cartagena. In any case, enjoy.

Living on the coast

2005-05-12T11:12:00.000-05:00

There are some thing to love about living on the coast. Even when we work all day, we work in linen, and we take two hours for lunch. We have meetings in beatiful offices in old colonial houses. A couple days ago Tom and I got up early and played a set of tennis at the Hilton. My game was miserable, and I'm still sore in my shoulder, but it was fun to get out there. Now I'm by myself again, so last night I decided to take it easy. I made a little salad with romaine lettuce and tuna fish, threw some olive oil and pepper on it, and opened a bottle of red wine. Mia had sent me a New Yorker article about Saul Bellow written by Phillip Roth, and so I read the article and ate my dinner. I guess it put me in a high art sort of mood, because then I started listening to My Bloody Valentine and John Coltrane, and I spent the night re-reading "Humboldt's Gift" (The best Bellow I've ever read) out on my balcony. Reading Bellow charges me, especially with the waves crashing against the rocks and the Argentine wine and the lights of the Old City off in the distance.

And so if last night was a great Cartagena night, this morning was the nightmare. I'm supposed to have internet hooked up in my apartment, and finally I got the cable people to come over and install it. They showed up and said that something was missing in the building, and it would be another week before they could totally install it. I flew off the handle and told them I couldn't wait another week, that they had to send someone today. They made a bunch of phone calls and said someone else would come this afternoon and perform the necessary work.

ME: And so I'll have internet this afternoon?
THEM: Oh, no, someone else has to come and install the modem.
ME: What? When will that happen?
THEM: I don't know, maybe tomorrow? Or next week?

*GROAN* Life on the coast. Tomorrow morning I'm off to Bogota for a weekend of friends and family, and also some important meetings. Until later....

Botero in the news

2005-05-09T13:45:00.000-05:00


On Sunday, The New York Times ran a story on Fernando Botero and his recent paintings on the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers in Abu Ghraib. As far as I can tell, this story was broken by Revista Diners here in Colombia (from which I stole the above picture).  And today Slate ran a Christopher Hitchens piece on Botero and the points he raises.

I don't want to get into politics here. The point I want to make is that Botero is another example of the characteristically Colombian talent to make high art that resonates with a wide audience. Botero's portly subjects (in one of my favorite turns of phrase, Mario Vargas Llosa once described them as having a "sumptuous abundance") are accessible to all, maybe not beautiful but certainly attractive. And his decades of pastoral portrayals have made his more recent entry into current events even more impactful. He is an important artist, but he's also a public figure, which is more than you can say about most artists.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is Botero's obvious analogue in literature. For all of the differences between them, Garcia Marquez has acquired a similar status to Botero, in that he writes undeniably legendary books that are read and enjoyed by the educated masses. And when he talks, people listen. In an age of ever-increasing esoterism, I think the quality of an artist engaging the general public dialogue is something to be celebrated.

And although they might not be public figures, I'd even go so far as to say that Colombia's pop music stars, like Los Aterciopelados, Juanes, Carlos Vives, and Shakira possess the same universality that make Botero and Garcia Marquez so great. That is, they all play a relatively sophisticated music, but they have a pop sensibility to match. Take Shakira, for instance--of her genre, she's the only one of her peers who's writing her own music, playing her own instruments, and enjoying going to the opera, too. There's something about this country that makes high art relevant to a broader audience, and I think that's one of the main reasons why Colombian culture is so vibrant.

Traveling to Colombia Looks Good to Me

2005-05-06T14:25:00.000-05:00

We've been waiting a long while for this news, but the U.S. State Department has finally dropped it advisory against traveling to Colombia. The department's website now says, "Violence has decreased markedly in most urban centers, including Bogota, Medellin, Barranquilla, and Cartagena." So pack your bags and come to Cartagena! I really do hope that this news means that more Americans will begin to discover the culture and beauty of Colombia. And listen to some of its music, of course.

And so given the happiness of today, I'm going to give you a non-Colombian-or-jazz-related music tip here: Saturday Looks Good to Me. They're a band from Michigan who do a '60s pop thing, but with an indie ethos that makes for some really fun songs. If you liked the early Belle & Sebastian records, you'll almost certainly love these guys ("The Girl's Distracted" is the other half of "She's Losing It"). One difference, though is that singer Betty Marie Barnes really belts out her lines with a Midwestern confidence that's refreshing after so much twee.

Before I left for Colombia, I met a really cute girl named Mia, and she says that SLGTM helped to get her out of her music slump--and I haven't been able to stop listening to them, especially their newest album, Every Night, since then.

This is not the best song on the album, but you can get an mp3 of "Lift me Up" from the SLGTM website.

Dropping of travel advisory = Colombia getting out of its tourism slump. Saturday Looks Good to Me = You getting out of your music slump. What a good day!

Another artist, another venue

2005-05-05T16:10:00.000-05:00

The guy on the left is Christian Scott, a trumpet prodigy from New Orleans whom we've just signed on to play the festival. Some great New Orleans sounds in the city of Cartagena!

Here's his bio from Berklee College of Music (this is a year old now):

A native of New Orleans, Christian Scott, has successfully absorbed the rich musical heritage of his family. After receiving a trumpet as a gift from his mother and grandmother at age 12, he began to explore his talents, under the tutelage of his uncle, modern jazz innovator, saxophonist Donald Harrison, Jr. (Berklee '80)

In addition to continuing his musical education with his uncle, Christian also attended the prestigious New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA), where he studied under the direction of Clyde Kerr and Kent Jordan. Other noted alumni include Harrison, Harry Connick, Jr., the Marsalises, Terence Blanchard, and Nicholas Payton. Upon graduation, Christian was awarded the highest honor of all his classmates.

Scott received a full tuition scholarship to attend Berklee, where he is now a senior. Now a member of Harrison's ensemble, he has performed throughout Europe, Asia and South, Central, and North America. He appears on Harrison's most recent release, Real Life Stories and the soon to be released, Kind of New, a tribute to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.

Also, we're arranging to hold our Friday concert at the gorgeous Claustro de Santo Domingo, which will give us an outdoor venue. This night will be the most "rocking" night, with acts that will plug in their instruments and put on a party. No matter how things turn out with this festival, we probably have some of the best venues of any festival in the world.

My business partner, Tom, arrived last night, and we've been busy making the rounds and putting together some logistical plans. We have some good developments on the sponsorship front, but nothing to announce just yet. Still, progress has been good, and we have our first newspaper interview tomorrow. There's definitely a buzz going around!

The bummer of the past few days is that I had my cellphone stolen. It was my fault, I left it behind at an internet cafe, and when I returned 5 minutes later to retrieve it, it was already gone. Oh well. We have a cocktail party for an artist who's displaying his paintings in the Hotel Santa Clara tonight, so I should go home and change. More soon!

More on Etelvina

2005-05-03T08:32:00.000-05:00

Damn, still can't find a picture of Etelvina anywhere, but I'll take one this next weekend. We went to the beach Sunday, with a bunch of musicians that included Etelvina and her husband. The beach was a 15-minute bus ride from the Old City, at a place called the Boquilla, which is much less touristy than the Cartagena beaches, but still full of restaurants and vendors. I came to this beach once before, with my friend Sarah McGill, about 3.5 years ago, and we came on a Tuesday when the beach was completely empty. This time a lot of people were out, and we ate fried fish and coconut rice, and we swam in the almost-too-warm Caribbean.

I spent much of the afternoon talking to Etelvina (the 75-year-old singer I wrote about a couple posts below). Etelvina's style of music is called Bullerenque, which features one or more female singers accompanied by nothing more than a bunch of percussion. Someone mentioned that the music originated from pregnant women who composed these songs to entertain themselves while they couldn't dance with the rest of the crowd. Maybe that also helps to explain why these songs have such a bluesy feel to them. Etelvina estimates she's composed 60 songs. "Por què me pegas," which I mentioned earlier is my favorite of all the ones I've heard, she composed 22 years ago. Her neighbor across the street was a single mother with four children, and their house was always a mess and her kids out of control. One day she came home and found the house in a particularly worse state of disarray, and out of frustration and because she did not know whom to blame, she started hitting her oldest child--who cried back to her, "Why are you hitting me, mom?" or, "Mamà, ¿por què me pegas?" Etelvina said that all of her songs begin with simple observations of her life.

The saddest thing of all, though, is that Etelvina lives somewhere on the border between poverty and misery. Her house is in the worst of Cartagena's neighborhoods. Saturday night when she saw that there was leftover rice at the party where she was singing, she asked for a plastic bag to take the rice home. Sunday when we were about to leave the beach, she asked if i could cover the $0.40 bus fare for her and her husband, because she didn't have any money. Keep in mind: this is a woman who has performed concerts all over Europe, who is flying to Mexico this week to perform, and who has recorded three of her own songs on a CD that is sold in record stores all over this country. And it's not like she's blowing her money on wasteful things--she just doesn't have any.

I think about what an audience she could find in the States and Canada and Europe. This woman is like the rawest blues singer you've ever seen. I'd love to play her for Jack White. I'd love to see her play a little club like Tonic, because she is rock'n'roll. This is the whole idea of our festival, I guess--that there's a whole lot in common between jazz music and colombian folkloric music. Watching these musicians perform is like being in Louisiana or Mississippi almost 100 years ago. It really blows your mind.

-----------

Last night was Gisele's goodbye dinner; she's off to Bogota for a little while, then Rome. I had the pleasure of meeting a woman named Jane Chaplin, who is Charlie Chaplin's daughter. She lives here in Cartagena (although she's still learning spanish), where she's writing a book. Before that I met with Raimundo Angulo, who is the president of the Miss Colombia Pageant, which is by far the biggest annual event in this country. It's kind of like being the owner of the Super Bowl, but only if the Super Bowl were played by some of the most beautiful women in the world. Dr. Angulo is also the president of the Teatro Heredia, and so he's very excited about the festival, and he's going to be lending his organization's public relations department to help us with publicity. Believe me, that's a lot of help.

¿Por qué me pegas?

2005-05-01T13:26:00.000-05:00

I wish I had a picture to post of last night, but didn't have my camera along, and I couldn't find a decent picture on the nets. And so you'll have to make do with my description.

Alvaro Restrepo, the founder and director of the Colegio del Cuerpo (see previous post below), had a going-away dinner for Gisele last night. But about two hours before we were set to go there, we received a call from a friend, a French girl named Veronique, who is married to a Colombian singer named Marco. Marco's musician friends were over, and they were all playing and dancing and singing and drinking rum, so we walked around the block to join them. When I entered the foyer, I saw maybe 12 people inside, about half of them musicians playing away, and then some older people dancing. One thing I want to point out is that they were almost all black--which is worth noting, because there's not a lot of racial mixing in this city.
One woman I found particularly striking. She was well into in 70s, thin and frail, black and dressed in an old-fashioned green dress. I guessed that she was the mother of one of the musicians, and I thought it was really cute that she was there with everyone, clapping her hands with the music.
The she stood up and began to sing, "¿Mamá, por qué me pegas?," ("Mother, why do you hit me?") and I knew I had heard her voice before. She was one of the singers on the Alé Kuma CD I bought last year, a slightly awkward fusion of jazz and the rhythmic afro-colombian music of the coast. "¿Por qué me pegas?" was always my favorite song on that CD, and to witness it being performed in a foyer with 12 other people present was nothing short of a religious experience.
The singer's name is Etelvina Maldonado, and she writes the songs she sings. She's told me about her travels in Europe last year, from Hungary to Austria to Germany and Paris, but she also told me that she still washes clothes in order to make a living. Her voice has as much soul as anyone's I've ever heard. Listen for yourself by clicking on the above link. Really, this music is so extraordinarily rich, I think you'd be blown away if you could see it live.
Dinner at Alvaro's was probably more of a New York experience than any I ever had actually living in New York. Along with Alvaro's novelist partner, Leopoldo, the guests included a dancer from New York, his parter, a New York Times editor in the Washington bureau, the painter Ruby Rumié, the consul of Spain (who is my landlady now), and her husband. What a crowd! We ate a delicious seafood dish typical to the Colombian coast, and drank wine and talked until past 2.
Well, today I move into my new place, but first I'm going to the beach for a few hours. Finally.
And really, just to the link above and listen to some of Etelvina's music. I'll write more about her sometime soon.

Shame on National Geographic

2005-04-28T15:41:00.000-05:00



It's been an up-and-down couple of days, and for that reason I'm going to post a little bit of bitterness here.

This National Geographic article from last month is one of the worst examples of cliche journalism I've seen in a while. Colombia really seems to attract cliche journalists--people who look for the story of the drug lord, the photograph of the funeral, or the quote from the impoverished. It's pure sensationalism, because there's always an audience for this type of horrific story, but it doesn't tell us anything new; it only shocks us.

When I lived in Bogota 4 years ago, I had some experience with photojournalists hoping to catch the gruesome on film. "To document the situation," they said, but they knew this would bring them some attention. As a cliche, it's as egregious as a photograph of an elderly person dressed in traditional clothes, with a Coca-Cola in hand, or maybe with a pair of Nikes. Oh, you mean globalization is threatening the culture of indigenous peoples? No way. Oh, you mean drugs and civil war have made life harsh for a great number of Colombians? You don't say.

But National Geographic didn't go for the stories of hope and inspiration that have come out of this situation. Instead, they opted to follow some of the nastiest stories out there. Pedro Medina of Yo Creo en Colombia makes a great point: of the 17 stories in the March edition, this is the only negative story. But it makes the cover. Because it's sensationalist.

In an earlier post I remarked that I think it's a shame that another documentary has come out showing the disaster of Colombia's civil war. But from everything I've read, it was done in good taste, and it manages to evoke the human side of events. This article, on the other hand, reads more like a script for The Sopranos, and worse, presents the story as if it were indicative of life in Medellin. In fact, violence in Colombia is at its lowest levels in 16 years, and, as NG mentions in its "More to Explore" section (which from what I can tell isn't in the print version), things are looking up for Medellin. But this isn't the story they tell.

The victims of this cliche journalism are the Colombians who are working like mad to show the world the progress they've made, and to change the country's image that no longer applies the way it once did. Eventually I'm sure they'll succeed, even in spite of article such as this one.

Reina Sofia

2005-04-26T15:15:00.000-05:00

>.
It's a big day here at the Santa Clara, because Queen Sofia of Spain is arriving tonight to participate in the 4th Annual Microcredit Forum. The city definitely has a more visible security presence, but the hotel itself is still pretty tranquil. The Queen will be staying in one of the amazing suites on the top floor of the hotel--but I'm not jealous, because I just found an amazing apartment I'll be moving into. It's owned by the Consul of Spain, and she's giving me a great price on it. She's also a good friend of Gisele's--whom doesn't that woman know?

The apartment itself is in Bocagrande, the modern part of Cartagena, but only a couple minute's taxi ride to the old city. It's beachfront, on the 4th floor, with a balcony and beautiful furniture. And... I have extra rooms, so let me know if you want to visit!

I'll post some pictures, and I also need to post some pictures of Gisele's place. Last night she and I stayed up late drinking rum and listening to Ruben Blades, Pablo Mayor, and Devendra Banhardt. She was blown away by Devendra's voice. Too bad he's such a happy hippy. Today I met with the management of the Teatro Heredia, and everything's coming together. Following a salmon lunch at the Alliance Francaise, it's now time to make some calls to the press.

Back in Cartagena

2005-04-25T16:55:00.000-05:00

Nothing special to report this time, except that I'm much better suited to the humid coast than I am to the cloudy, dismal Andes. Bogota was very busy, but lots of fun. I stayed with my friends Andres and Maria Paula, saw my friend Sebastian (who's blog I'll talk about in a future post), and saw some (but not all) of my family. Also went to the Feria del Libro (book fair), where the big themes were Don Quixote's 400th birthday and China.

Here are a couple links about a documentary called La Sierra about paramilitaries near Medellin, this one from the NY Times, and this from eye, which features the following quote:

There may be more depressing ways to spend an hour-and-a-half than watching La Sierra but it's hard to imagine what they'd be, unless they involved black garbage bags, a lake and a large quantity of kittens. Scott Dalton and Margarita Martinez's astounding documentary follows the lives of several youths in the barrio of Medellín, Colombia -- gun-wielding teenage proxies for the country's many paramilitary and guerilla groups. It's murderous, heartbreaking stuff seeing 15-year-olds so fatalistic even Travis Bickle would duck for cover -- but this is essential viewing, if lacking in contextual detail.

Great, all Colombia needs is more publicity about its violence. I give Juan Forero of the Times credit--he does his best to write some intriguing features on the complexity of life here. But for the most part, the only time Colombia appears on the news in the States is when there's a drug bust, or a kidnapping, or something in that vein. It's kinda like that way we only hear news about Germany when there's a neo-Nazi rally or something. This June you'll be able to see for yourself at the Walter Reade Theater--or you could come to Cartagena and see a much more beautiful side of Colombia.

More on this theme to come. As for now, I have to see about sorting out an apartment and getting in touch with some musicians in the city. Tomorrow's a full day, with meetings here at the Santa Clara and at the Teatro Heredia. I need to schedule a swim in the ocean sometime this week....

Colegio del Cuerpo

2005-04-23T13:08:00.000-05:00

Hey while the article is still free, make sure you read this New York Times feature on Cartagena's youth modern dance troupe, the Colegio del Cuerpo. Its founder, Alvaro Restrepo, is a hero among the supporters of the arts here in Cartagena, especially because of his insistence on reaching out to the poor who make up a vast majority of the city's population. (Alvaro is also good friends with Gisele--what luck I have.)

One distressing line in the article reports that when the Colegio del Cuerpo performed late last year at the Teatro Heredia (one of our venues), the theater was only half full. Such is the state of support for the arts in the city, located along a stretch of coast that has produced an incredible number of legendary artists, musicians, and writers in the past 50 years or so.

We hope we'll be able to work with Alvaro in the festival, maybe even have a dance performance one night. I'll keep you updated.

Hector Martignon

2005-04-23T12:47:00.000-05:00


Our first officially announced artist is Hector Martignon, a superstar of Latin Jazz and also a Colombian active in the jazz scene down here. Hector lives in New York, but he's a ubiquitous presence in the jazz festival circuit here. He plays with Ray Barretto and Arturo Sandoval, and before arriving here in Cartagena, he'll be touring Colombia with Cuban legend Paquito D'Rivera.

Here's my favorite line from his bio: "

In the fall of 2003 Hector visited Slovenia and Russia to collaborate with singer-songwriter Vitaly Osmsçko’s first symphonic CD . The Russian Philharmonic Orchestra recorded in Moscow the orchestrations written by Hector." Pretty versatile guy.


One thing Hector gives us is a lot of credibility. He's well known down here, and people are immediately impressed that we'll be having him at the festival. And he puts on such a great show!

Por fin...

2005-04-18T14:50:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

So after just over a week on the ground here, I've finally got this blog up and running. The point here is to let everyone know how the progress of the Festival Jambalaya Cartagena is going, and also to document my experience here--the places, the people, the customs and the culture. So the posts will involve a little bit of show-and-tell, a little bit of journalism-lite, and quite a good bit of promotion for the festival and for the city of Cartagena de Indias!

Just to get you caught up, I'm in Cartagena for the next 3 months, but for the next 2 I'll be working ceaselessly on organizing the first annual Festival Jambalaya Cartagena. This is a great opportunity I stumbled upon when I was in Rio last year and my friend Kit and I ran into a guy wearing a Princeton t-shirt, who happened to be Tom Andre, the producer of the Jambalaya! festival in Brazil. One of his contacts became the general manager of the Hotel Sofitel Santa Clara in Cartagena, and he wrote Tom asking if it might be possible to do a festival in Cartagena, which is a beautiful and culturally rich city, which unfortunately is lacking a music festival at this point.

The festival will be held the last weekend of June (23-26), and the main idea is to show the similarities between New Orleans jazz and the music of the Caribbean coast of Colombia. But more than that, we're going to be bringing some of the culture and food of New Orleans to Cartagena, and the experience should be really unique and exciting. I'll go into more detail in future posts.

But the past week has been extraordinary, to say the least. I arrived in Cartagena the afternoon of the 13th, with a reservation at a little hostel and little idea what I was going to do. After dropping off my bags, I called a contact: the mother of the wife of a friend of a friend of Pedro Medina, the founder of the Foundation "I Believe in Colombia" (Fundacion Yo Creo en Colombia) and a contact of mine. The woman's name is Gisele, and she's a Swiss lady who splits her time between Cartagena, Bogota, and Rome. (Her daughter is also a fantastic musician who will almost certainly be playing the festival.) Gisele's house is in the breathtaking Old City, and when I stepped inside I was amazed. She has a small courtyard with a pool, a large sitting room with 20+-foot-high colonial ceilings, and a terrace on the top of the house that allows views of all of Cartagena. She offered me a great price for the rest of the month, and I took it.

After that, Gisele has been so kind as to introduce me to many of her friends, many of whom are artists, musicians, and cultural and business leaders in Cartagena. We spent a fantastic day on the island of Baru about 40 minutes off the coast of the city, and we went to a goodbye party for the manager of the Alliance Francaise. My days have been full of meetings and e-mails and phone calls, and have been notably lacking in beach time. But my skin color is returning to a more healthy shade of tan, which was necessary after another long New York winter.

Now I'm in Bogota, and things are going really well. I'm here until Sunday, and I've had nonstop meetings since I got here a few days ago. It's so much colder and rainier here (the London of the Andes), but nice to feel that Big City feeling again. I've got a ton of family I still have to see, so no rest for the weary, I suppose. But I'll write some more soon.