“Sing to me of your sadness and tell me of your joy”. Turururu. This is the most beautiful song in the world today. And, in fact, it came out on this Feburary 21st in anticipation of the new album by Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro with Alice Russell.

I am always amazed by how music travels and how musical worlds meet. If I was into  anthropomorphizing continents I would go for one of those “here is how Africa, Europe and Latin America are meeting to produce beautiful music”. But no. Let’s leave that for your standard review and let’s get specific. Next to the soulful and gorgeous voice of Mrs. Alice, we have british-born Will “Quantic” Holland, a smart man who decided to travel to Colombia and to expand his musical horizons from soul, jazz, reggae to, of course, cumbia.

The story says that in 2007 Holland “moved to Cali, Colombia’s third largest city, to pursue his passion for unearthing lost treasures from Colombia’s musical past”. (Oh well, we can always do without the “orientalism”). The fact is that he built a studio there and brought together a group of superb musicians.  First, there is Mr. Alfredito “Sabor” Linares on the piano. He was born in Perú and made afro latin jazz over there, but spent most of his career making good salsa in Colombia (Pause for a classic - http://bit.ly/zEk4tm). The rest of this fancy ensemble includes Freddy Colorado on the congas; Fernando Silva and his endearing and classic curls on the bass; and Joeo Comanche Gomes alongside Malcom Catto booging the percussions.

This video is a single beautiful take of sounds. I love to see the movements and the music as they are being made in such a warm place.  According to Quantic, as they were recording in that London studio, the 2011 riots were taking place outside. And as “another fun fact”, the poster in the background (http://bit.ly/ygll0a) is from the 1973 movie “Cumbia” directed by mexican Zacarías Gómez Urquiza and shot in the Colombian coast. The movie stars Argentinean vedette Zulma Faiad and Evaristo Márquez, born in Palenque. And apparently “our own” Dora Cadavid was also in it. (Yes, I am your best source of midnight random facts)

Going back to Quantic and the Combo Bárbaro, they really know what they are doing. The 2011 album “Tradition in Translation” is, for the most part, a jewel. Rich layers of music coming from many different places. Here is one of my favorite songs - http://bit.ly/18slBD. From Panamá to the world, the voice of Kabir Malik Green has the right amount of that “return to Spanish Harlem” thing in it. I just love it. Quantic and some members of the Combo are also part of an ongoing project that has kept many of our “cumbiambero” hearts excited from early this year - http://ondatropica.com/.  We really want to hear all the wonders that came out of those sessions at the Disco Fuentes studio in Medellín.
 
This bafleo is for Óscar and it is in English because the NYC-Delhi based community needs to read it as well. I smile here in Chicago and my heart is in Bogotá with you celebrating the good news tonight. Feel the love, Casanare.