The Case of the Colombian Contraband

Today I am devoting a full show to the music of Colombia, including a big helping of that country's most famous musical export, Cumbia.

The origins of Cumbia are not authoritatively documented, but it seems likely that there is an element of indigenous influence in the music beyond the influences of African and European origin. I find this fascinating because so much of the Latin American music I play on the show (particularly music from Cuba) is purely a combination of Spanish and African traditions. I hear Native American influence here in the sense that African drumming traditions are always "talking" by shifting tonalities and phrasing between male and female voices; drumming in cumbias is more often vamping on a single phrase throughout a song, creating a trance-like effect that I associate with Native American dances.

The first couple sets today focus on rootsy sounds of vallenato cumbias, porros, and gaitas. This is music performed by small combos; the primary instrument is an accordion, with percussion and occasional support from a guitar. Here is the country music of Colombia.

The second couple sets move the sound uptown, adding horn lines and orchestral arrangements. So far all music today has been recorded in the 60s and 70s.

The end of the show today features some updated cumbia sounds from the 80s alongside a few fusion tracks melding cumbia idioms with rhythms and instruments from the pop music world.