Totó La Momposina
La Bodega
Astar Artes

The somber horns, meandering guitar and tentative 
drums at the outset of this CD soon shift gears 
and burst into lively celebration, and once the 
voice of Totó La Momposina is in the thick of the 
chorus, all of Colombia's African, indigenous and 
European roots are joyously entwined. Toto's been 
the leading lady of Colombian music for some 
time, always drawing upon traditional sources 
while maintaining a progressive spirit and vision 
that has produced such albums as 2001's stunning 
Pacanto, which was propelled by a contemporary 
African undercurrent that enriched the music 
magnificently. La Bodega doesn't quite match the 
heights of that classic though it similarly 
builds on a folkloric foundation of drums and 
vocal blueprints handed down from generations of 
village cantadoras who lead people in song and 
often serve as herbal healers as well. Fitting, 
given the medicinal quality of the music here. 
Totó's lusty singing is nudged to full-blooded 
heights by an accompaniment of hand drums, small 
percussion, gaita flutes made from cactus wood, 
brass, strings and a chorus that shouts approval 
of her declarations at every turn. An occasional 
addition of violin, marimba or accordion veers 
the sound toward such popular Colombian styles as 
vallenato and the concluding "Fiesta Vieja" winds 
up the disc on a distinctly cumbia note. Still, a 
mainly rural sound, not an urban one, guides La 
Bodega. The album's centerpiece, inspired by the 
late Colombian master drummer Batata, 
thunderously demonstrates as much: "Tembandumba" 
builds like any straight-from-Africa invocation 
of the Yoruba pantheon, re-connecting Totó La 
Momposina's homeland to the other side of the 
Atlantic and resounding with the kind of 
inspiration heard throughout. This is 
Afro-Colombian music at its best. - Tom Orr

Listen:
http://www.rootsworld.com/audio/bodega10.html

CD available from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002P9K9CI/rootsworldmagazi/