|
|
CD Review
|
Click Here to go back. |
Roots World, CD Review >>
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/
02/23/10 >> go there
|
Click Here to go back. |
|
|
|
|
|