New York-based Colombian bands La Cumbiamba eNeYe and Coba sign to Chonta Records
Monday, December 19 2005 @ 06:12 AM EST
Contributed by: WMC_News_Dept.
New York, USA - Chonta Records announced the
signing of two bands, La Cumbiamba eNeYe and Coba, who are integral members of
the flourishing Colombian music scene in
New York City. Chonta will release La
Cumbiamba’s first CD, Marioneta, in December, and Coba’s second CD will be
released in early 2006.
La Cumbiamba eNeYe is the greatest crowd-pleaser of the New York City Colombian scene,
which includes fellow Chonta artist, Pablo Mayor – Folklore Urbano, as well as
singer/songwriter Marta Gomez and harp virtuoso Edmar Castaneda.
La Cumbiamba’s music, built on sophisticated compositions and an ebullient live
show, draws from the rhythms of Colombian folkloric music, especially from the
Afro-Colombian rhythms of the country’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts. This is
the same area that has spawned such international stars as
Totó
La Momposina,
Grupo Bahia, and Cabas.
Marioneta allows fans to experience the band’s highly praised live show at home.
This live show, which has moved audiences in such prestigious venues as Symphony
Space, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, and Central Park Summerstage in New York,
has won them a following among many young fans of danceable Latin music. Each
show is a party, but it is also an homage to the masters in Colombia who
invented and wrote many of these rhythms and songs. La Cumbiamba’s frontman,
Martin Vejerano, has recorded with master musicians such as Gaiteros de San
Jacinto and José “Guajalo” Torres.
Coba is the brainchild of composing wunderkind and guitarist Sebastián Cruz, a
Colombian from Bogotá who creates beautiful songs by combining Colombian sounds
with modern elements. The lyrics tend towards the personal, which gives a unique
depth for Colombian music. Cruz works extensively with giants of Colombian
music, such as Iván Benavides and Lucia Pulido, who both contributed to his
self-titled first album.
With these signings, Chonta Records cements itself as a leader of the
promotion of a fresh and innovative music scene that stretches from New York to
Bogotá and throughout Colombia.
Chonta Records is a New York-based record label devoted
to young and innovative Colombian and other Latin American bands.
World Music Central
http://worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20051213201257880