Exclusive first listen: hot mix from new cumbia supergroup Ondatrópica
Do you think they’re accepting any new members?
By NURIA NET
There’s a new Buena Vista Social Club in town, this time out of Colombia.
Ok, it’s not fair to reduce Ondatrópica to a derivative of Buena Vista, but it is a new super-group made up of legendary Colombian musicians including Alfredito Linares, Michi Sarmiento, Fruko, and Pedro “Ramaya” Beltrán.
It also includes contemporary musicians, such as Mario Galeano (Frente Cumbiero) and Will Holland, aka Quantic. On top of that, Los Angeles-based company Mochilla is doing a documentary around them, so you already know they’re awesome.
Here is an unreleased, exclusive mix by Quantic titled “Linda Mañana,” for your listening pleasure. Think: old and new cumbia, and African and indigineous Colombian tropical rhythms such as currulao, salsa, and boogaloo. Many of these legendary musicians were recorded by Disco Fuentes, which is a label founded in 1934 and equivalent to Fania in terms of being an authority on Colombian tropical and folk music. This mix in particular pulls from old recordings, not just Ondatrópica the group.
On top of this cool mixtape, I sent several questions to Mario Galeano and Will Holland (aka Quantic), the producing duo behind Ondatrópica. I was hoping to get some quick written responses from them via email. Instead, the duo recorded their answers on an audio file (they are musicians after all) and sent it over. So here it is, listen to Galeano and Quantic discuss their super group Ondatrópica and this “Linda Mañana” mixtape we’re debuting here. I’ll be sure to give these guys a call next time!
I find it very interesting that Galeano and Quantic are currently touring with a 12-piece band but are thinking of inviting other musicians for their next tour.
They also want you to know: there’s a misconception of Latin music as a happy, dance-oriented music but as Ondatrópica shows, Latin music can also be “heavy” and not based in “easy times or good times,” says Galeano.
The debut, self-titled album from Ondatrópica was just released and the group will be performing in NYC (their U.S. debut) this Friday, July 27 at Lincoln Center (part of their Out of Doors line-up) and in Los Angeles on Sunday, July 29th at the Mayan Theatre.
(Photo: courtesy of Ondatrópica)
