The Monterrey-Austin cumbia axis
Prentiss Riddle
discovery of the cumbia scene in Monterrey, Mexico, and its reigning
star Celso Piña. Just as gringolandian alternative rockers a few years
back rediscovered and relaunched the Man in Black, so have Mexico's
younger exponents of rap and rock en español made a star out of Piña.
Cumbia has a characteristic heartbeat rhythm that you'll know if
you've ever heard it. Here's the Chronicle on its origins:
A folkloric music born in Colombia's Caribbean coastal region,
cumbia sabanera and its cousin cumbia vallenata were forged
from a fusion of European accordion, native Indian guacharaca
(a bamboo scraper), and African rhythms played on the caja, a
drum slightly larger than a bongo. Over time, the cumbia lineup
supersized, sometimes rivaling salsa bands in its musical girth,
incorporating everything from horn sections to keyboards. ...
As salsa took the rest of Mexico by storm in the Sixties and
Seventies, cumbia Colombiana found fertile ground in Monterrey.
Piña is credited as the founder of Monterrey cumbia, which has pretty
much been limited to that city's working-class barrios for the past
twenty years. Until, that is, producer and DJ Toy Hernández of the
Monterrey rap group Control Machete hit upon the idea of "cumbia dub".
When word spread that Hernández would be producing Piña, the heavy
hitters of Mexico's alternative music scene (and beyond) were quick
to sign on, including members of Café Tacuba, El Gran Silencio,
Santa Sabina, and the New York Latin-rap-ska group King Chango.
The result is said to be a delight for adventurous ears north and
south of the border, both on the breakout track "Cumbia Sobre el Río"
on the Barrio Bravo CD and on several tracks from his new release
Mundo Colombia. I haven't actually heard these discs yet, but the
samples available at Amazon and B&N make me believe it. Besides the
dub and rock influences are intriguing ideas like a cumbia cover of
the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic "Vivo Sonhando". Fans of Piña and
Hernández's new sound should be aware, however, that some of the
songs are likely to be more in the vein of traditional rough and
ready Monterrey-style cumbia.
Meanwhile, the Chronicle naturally puts an Austin angle on the story:
Monterrey is "just" seven hours by bus from Austin; a singer whose
connection to Piña isn't explained has spent the summer in Austin
recording; Austin's own eclectic cumbia collective Grupo Fantasma
and dub act Echobase are collaborating with Toy Hernández and have
plans to play in Monterrey soon. I don't know whether this really
means much; we've heard about the Next Big Thing coming from Mexico
via Austin for years.
But Grupo Fantasma is great and a listen to their self-titled release
may make you agree that cumbia makes other latin styles popular north
of the border sound sterile in comparison (e.g., salsa). I hear that
Grupo Fantasma has a benefit show coming up to raise funds for their
Monterrey trip. So if writing about an Austin-Monterrey axis might
help make it happen, more power to the Chronicle.
Links and discussion at:
http://www.aprendizdetodo.com/music/?item=20021023
-- Prentiss Riddle ("aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada") rid...@io.com
-- You are in a maze of twisty weblogs all alike. http://aprendizdetodo.com