Para el pueblo venozalano

Panamá en su salsa

Makes me want to turn up some Ruben Blades. The accompanying song is pretty cool as well.

Susana Baca becomes Peru's first Afro Cabinet member

Susana Baca, the legendary Afro-Peruano singer, has been named Minister of Culture by Ollanta Humala. She's the first Afro Peruano/a to serve in the Peruvian cabinet and the first artist named to this ministry in particular. Sounds like Humala was listening closely to his Brazilian advisers; Lula took Gilberto Gil, one of Brazil's musical giants, and named him to the same post when he first took office.

From the NYT:

Q. Tell us how you ended up being named minister of culture. Did you know before the election that it was a possibility?

A. It was a big shock. The ministers of culture have always been archaeologists and anthropologists, sociologists, but never an artist. I thought about my mother, and how I would have liked that she were alive to know that her daughter, from a humble background, who has struggled a lot in life, came to have such an important post in this country.

Luto en Colombia por El Joe

Colombian music legend & one of my all time favorites passed away in Barranquilla this morning. Coincidentally, Joe's life as been the subject of a top-rated novela that is currently showing on Colombian television. His name was in the air during our visit to Colombia that just ended this past Sunday. The end appeared near due to word of his health complications. A sad day for Colombia and all who love music.

"Un Tal Julio"

I'm beginning to think there are two types of people in this world; those who have read Cortázar, and those who have not. Put me in the second camp for now, but I did get to 'Clasica y Moderna' a few weeks ago for an unusual and beautiful reading of some of the great Argentine writer's work interspersed with music of the melancholic accordion and piano kind. Each piece was more its own original work than it was just a reading of Rayuela set to music.

To understand what made this night so remarkable, I have to describe 'Clasica y Moderna.' Basically, it's a book store/cafe/restaurant/performance space/final resting place for old Italian bikes found in the rafters above. It's been around since 1938 and its Art Deco facade blends into the blur of taxis, buses, and motos speeding up Av. Callao. The performance, titled 'Un Tal Julio' consisted of three gentleman, the oldest of which read from Cortázar's wide body of work, the other two switched off between a stage full of instruments. The musicians played with small bursts of frantic energy, like free jazz with bandeon, but the dominant style evoked nostalgia for the old cafes of Palermo or of Cortazer's adopted home in Paris.

The room was full of a mostly older, comfortable class and although my friend James and I were sitting towards the back, we had a great view of the front of the house and curious passers-by. The greatest compliment I can pay these performers is to say that the entire night felt as if it had been lifted straight from an Almodover film. You know the scene…where a rare and exceptional performance serves as the backdrop for the protagonist’s forlorn internal monologue and a longing gaze across the room.

Maestro Facundo Cabral killed in Guatemala

A sad day for Argentina and the world. The great folk singer whose songs and poems were an inspiration for lovers, dreamers and those struggling against dictatorships across Latin America, was shot dead in Guatemala after giving a concert in Quetzaltenango, a city I visited in 2004.

My first encounter with his music was only recently. In 2009, Izyalit and I visited family in Mexico City. After a night of drinking and singing in Plaza Garibaldi her uncle drove us all home to the music of Facundo and his great friend and collaborator, Alberto Cortez. In my somewhat drunken state I asked her tio just who we were listening to.

In the words of Facundo, who touched on the sacred and ordinary, often in the same breath, and made it all sound beautiful:

"Siempre le pregunto a Dios, ¿por qué a mí tanto me diste? Me diste miseria, hambre, felicidad, lucha, luces...vi todo. Sé que hay cáncer, sífilis y primavera, y buñuelos de manzana." I always ask God, why did you give me so much? You gave me misery, hunger, happiness, struggle, lights... I saw everything. I know there is cancer, syphilis and spring, and apple fritters.

"Una Cancion Me Trajo Hasta Aqui"

<br/><a href="http://video.latam.msn.com/watch/video/jorge-drexler-una-cancion-me-trajo-hasta-aqui/k6hajvrb?src=v5:embed::&fg=sharenoembed" target="_new"title="Jorge Drexler: Una canción me trajo hasta aquí">Video: Jorge Drexler: Una canción me trajo hasta aquí</a>

In honor of this past weekend's visit to Uruguay, here's a sweet song about wide-eyed youthful enthusiasm (which I admit to still possessing) and the passage of time by el uruguayo, Jorge Drexler. The name of the song translates as, 'a song brought me here.' In fact, having listened to Drexler over many years, I can say that his music made me all the more interested in making the journey to Colonia and Montevideo, Uruguay.

No matter that he's lived in Madrid for over a decade.

Why is Brasil so cool?

Wilson Simonal's version of Jorge Ben's Pais Tropical

Seriously, what other country has inspired such a cool song? Set to some incredible goals by A Seleção.

Moro num país tropical, abençoado por Deus
E bonito por natureza, mas que beleza
Em fevereiro (em fevereiro)
Tem carnaval (tem carnaval)

Tenho um fusca e um violão
Sou Flamengo
Tenho uma nêga
Chamada Tereza

Sambaby
Sambaby

Sou um menino de mentalidade mediana
Pois é, mas assim mesmo sou feliz da vida
Pois eu não devo nada a ninguém
Pois é, pois eu sou feliz
Muito feliz comigo mesmo

Moro num país tropical, abençoado por Deus
E bonito por natureza, mas que beleza
Em fevereiro (em fevereiro)
Tem carnaval (tem carnaval)

Tenho um fusca e um violão
Sou Flamengo
Tenho uma nêga
Chamada Tereza

Sambaby
Sambaby

Eu posso não ser um band leader
Pois é, mas assim mesmo lá em casa
Todos meus amigos, meus camaradinhas me respeitam
Pois é, essa é a razão da simpatia
Do poder, do algo mais e da alegria

Sou Flamê
Tê uma nê
Chamá Terê
Sou Flamê
Tê uma nê
Chamá Terê

Do meu Brasil

Sou Flamengo
E tenho uma nêga
Chamada Tereza
Sou Flamengo
E tenho uma nêga
Chamada Tereza

Clave! El Joe de Cartagena

One of the great cantantes and arguably Colombia's greatest salsa star, Joe Arroyo. On a side note, I'll be traveling to Colombia in July following a judicial externship in Argentina. 

Narco-corridos in Colombia

The outlaw Mexican genre has been popular but shunned by most mainstream outlets in Colombia for 30 years.

El Regreso

Ed. Note: I've been away from the blog for the last two months. A combination of work, and wedding preparations mostly. I will also be starting law school in the fall as a student in Southwestern's evening program.

There is certainly much to marvel at across the Americas these days and I plan to continue writing up posts with a mix of my analysis and background experiences as well as other's reporting. So stay tuned for the latest on a host of elections (Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Peru), criminal justice, conflict, book reviews, and of course the occasional music drop. To demonstrate my good faith to stay in the fight, here is el orgullo de Naucalpan, Cafe Tacuba:

Teletón

Chilenos raised nearly $60 million USD during their weekend telethon. The event featured Inti-Illimani, Juanes, Los Tres, and Shakira (via video). It was hosted by the Jerry Lewis of Spanish-language telethons, Don Francisco of Sabado Gigante. Taking up way too much time between musical acts were the appearances of business leaders decked out in company fleeces, fleece vests, etc...promising funds which incidentally probably are all coming out Sebastian Pinera's pocket, titan of business that he is.

Closing out the show was Diego Torres performing "Color Esperanza", something of an anthem for Chile at the moment. 

Musica para animarse

It's been a difficult couple of months across the Americas. Chile confronts bouts of social breakdown that it believed its economic progress had inoculated it from, Cuban dissidents suffer stepped up repression, and Bogota endured a major transit strike. It's a really good time for some music. All week long, Armar una Bronca will feature music from across the region. Hope you enjoy.

First up is Beken from Haiti.

As Haitians tries to imagine a way forward, one of its most beloved troubadours recently picked up his guitar for the first time since the earthquake. “Beken usually sold best after a hurricane,” an admirer said, referring to the singer. “But since the earthquake, demand for his music is the strongest in years, the customers love the way he sings about suffering.”

His music can be heard here, courtesy of the NYT.

Caetano Veloso-Dom de Iludir

   

"La Negra es un icono de la democracia"

Mercedes Sosa, a vocal defender of human rights and living legend of Latin American music if there ever was one, has died. President Kirchner has called for three days of national mourning in Argentina, the country that Sosa fled in exile for several years during La Dictadura. She performed alongside the likes of Pablo Milanes, Silvio Rodriguez, Catano Veloso, Chico Buarque, Luciano Pavarotti, Sting, Charly Garcia, Joan Manuel Serrat, Ismael Serrano, Joan Baez, Shakira, and of course, Leon Gieco:

Don Amador, Maestro del Zapateo, Has Passed

The Peruvian violinist and master of the zapateo, Amador Ballumbrosio Mosquera, has died in his hometown of El Carmen. His was truly the first family of Afro-Peruvian music, all 14 of his children are accomplished performers in their own right.

This amazing vintage recording documents his music and scenes from his daily life. And here is a report from Radio Programas del Peru of his funeral celebration.