Venezuelan Music

Yellow Pants, Grapes and Triqui Traquis - Venezuelan New Year

2011-12-30T10:54:00.000-08:00

Venezuelans have been stocking up on yellow underwear, sparkling wine and grapes in the last few days, in the traditional build up to the celebration of New Year's Eve, or Fin de Año.

The locals love to welcome in the New Year with a massive bang so sales of fireworks or "triqui-traquis" have also been brisk - especially the annoying little firecrackers called "fosforitos", the bigger "empanaditas" and the fearsome rockets with names like "Matasuegra" ("Mother-in-Law Killer") and "Tumba Rancho" ("Shanty Destroyer").

As in many other places in the Spanish-speaking world, New Year traditions in Venezuela involve various ways of saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new one in a way that will bring good luck, good health, love and prosperity.

Yellow pants are worn to bring luck and money (they are the colour of gold after all), and red pants are believed to improve your chances at finding love and romance.

Make sure to wear the pants under your clothes, as you would normally.

At my first Venezuelan New Year's Eve party, I made the mistake of pulling over my jeans a pair of canary-yellow bikini briefs I'd been given for the occassion by a well-meaning friend.

While it was funny for about two minutes to strut about like a skinny superhero, it did look a bit wrong on the dancefloor, and if it hadn't been for the gallons of Black Label whiskey and Polar Ice beer we'd been drinking all evening I would have felt a bit self conscious when we went house to house to share a drink with the neighbours.

Some kids in the street even thought it was hilarious to shoot little bottle rockets at me while shouting "mira, aqui viene el supermancito" ("look, here comes the little Superman"), lighting the rockets while holding the sticks in their hands and then firing them straight down the street at my distinctive New Year attire.

Luckily, nobody got burnt, but I did feel a bit confused when I woke up the next day on the sofa with a sore head and these strange pants strangling my nether regions. Even if they'd been bright scarlet I cannot see how they could have brought me any luck in the romance department.

Another popular New Year's custom is to wear new clothes for the first time - known as "estrenos" (just as a new film has its "estreno", its premiere) - again to bring good luck and prosperity.

Generally, New Year's Eve parties follow the same pattern as Christmas Eve, with festive music such as gaitas - classics like "Viejo Año" by Maracaibo 15 or Nestor Zavarce's New Year tearjerker "Faltan Cinco Pa' Las Doce" - and the usual salsa vieja and reggaeton party favourites followed by a meal of yuletide foods such as pan de jamon, hallacas, ensalada de gallina, pernil and drinks like ponche crema.

As the countdown begins to the magic midnight hour guests quickly grab their 12 grapes and a glass of sparkling wine or champagne and try to gobble down a grape for each of the 12 chimes, known as the "12 campanas".

As each grape represents a good month in the year to come you can imagine the rush to get them down.

Any remaining grapes are usually washed down with champagne as the last chime of midnight ends, which is the cue for "los cañonazos" - the deafening fireworks displays that mark the start of the New Year.

This is also time for New Year hugs and kisses, generally to the sound of a traditional New Year song like "Año Nuevo, Vida Nueva" ("New Year, New Life") by Billo's Caracas Boys.

Few traditions are as dramatic as the annual burning of the "Old Year" in the Andean states of Merida, and Tachira, where papier mache figures representing the problems of the old year are paraded through the streets before being burnt at midnight to the sound of gaita music and the deafening explosions of thousands of triqui-traquis.

So now you know what to do to have an authentic Venezuelan New Year's Eve party. Grab some grapes, slip into your best yellow pants and have a fantastic New Year.

Paz, amor y prosperidad and a Feliz Año Nuevo pa' to' mi gente!

Gustavo Dudamel and OSB join Calle 13 at Latin Grammys

2011-11-11T01:14:00.000-08:00

Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra joined Puerto Rican rappers Calle 13 on stage to open the show at the Latin Grammy's on 10 November with a rousing rendition of Calle 13's "Latinoamerica".

Dudamel wore a sash in the red, yellow and blue colours of the Venezuelan flag during the performance at the Mandalay Bay Hotel theater in Las Vegas.

Venezolanía - Official song and video for FitVen 2011

2011-10-06T07:24:00.000-07:00

Venezolanía, performed by Merida singer-songwriting sisters Ariana and Manuela Moreno, is the official song for Venezuela's annual tourism fair, FitVen 2011, which takes place on the tourist island of Margarita at the Venetur Hotel in Porlamar from 22-25 October.

Ariana and Manuela's group is called Surconciente.

This is the IV edition of Venezuela's annual FitVen tourism fair, which aims to promote local attractions such as Los Llanos, a birdwatching mecca, the Andean mountains and valleys of Merida, Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world, Roraima, a Lost World tabletop mountain, and Margarita, which has a growing reputation as a world class windsurfing destination.

This year, Venezuela's neighbour Colombia is being honoured with a special stand.

For the official FitVen2011 website click here.

Venezuelan ska band Desorden Publico star in BBC documentary

2011-09-25T02:24:00.000-07:00

Veteran BBC presenter Jonathan Dimbleby joins Desorden Publico - a ska band that has been at the top of the charts in Venezuela for over a quarter of a century - as part of his documentary series "South American Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby", which airs on BBC 2 at 8 p.m. on 25 September.

Playing to audiences of up to 150,000 people, Desorden Publico are not mere entertainers but have a profound political purpose invariably challenging the status quo.

As Jonathan stomps his feet to their energetic beat, Horacio Blanco, the lead singer is worried. He tells Jonathan that Chavez's 21st century Socialist revolution has polarised the country.

A video of Desorden Publico in London playing the song Monkey Ska

The veteran BBC presenter also visited Hato Masaguaral, a ranch in the plains of Los LLanos Venezuela, that breeds an endangered species of crocodile commonly know as the Caiman del Orinoco. Video here.

The full documentary of Jonathon Dimbleby's documentary on Colombia and Venezuela is being shown on BBC 2 at 8 p.m. on 25 September and will be available on the iPlayer for a week after broadcast.

Dudamel and Los Amigos Invisibles blow away LA

2011-08-15T01:04:00.000-07:00

Venezuelan musical history was made on Friday, 12 August, when funky-Latin-party popsters Los Amigos Invisibles took to the stage with mop-top conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philarmonic to play five classics from their back catalogue at a packed Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

It was a meeting of two of Venezuela's most accomplished and successful exports: Los Amigos Invisibles, who have created their own distinctive brand of dance-friendly tropical funk, and Dudamel, the hottest property in classical music, who is currently director of the Gothenburg Symphony and the LA Philarmonic, two of the finest orchestras in the world.

The concert included some of the band's best-loved hits, such as En Cuatro, La Vecina and Amor.

Los Amigos Invisibles are currently on a 20th anniversary tour of the USA, Europe and Latin America and will next play at Mexico City's Teatro Metropolitan on 19 August.

As soon as I have a better video I'll post it.

Venezuelan Birthday Song - Ay Que Noche Tan Preciosa

2011-08-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

Venezuelans love socializing and there's no better excuse for hearty partying than a birthday celebration.

Birthdays are celebrated in the office with workmates, at a bar or restaurant, on the beach under a palm tree, or with friends and family at home, but always with a cake and a special birthday song that is unique to the country.

This song is generally known simply as "Cumpleaños Feliz" ("Happy Birthday to You") or by its first line "Ay Que Noche Tan Preciosa" ("Oh What a Beautiful Night").

It dates back to 1953 when a Venezuelan composer called Luis Cruz from Los Chorros in Caracas wanted to impress a girlfriend called Rebeca and penned the words of the song for her birthday.

Cruz continued to play the song as a cha-cha-cha with his trio Los Latinos, and it was even recorded by a few artists, although without great success.

All that changed in 1964 when Venezuelan singer Emilio Arvelo, originally from El Recreo, included it on an album of boleros and the song became a massive hit across Latin America.

Now living in Mamporal in Miranda State and 76 years old, Arvelo recalled in an interview a few years ago how the song made him internationally famous.

"Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Panama and Puerto Rico. Everywhere it reached, people came in crowds to receive us with affection."

Even today, in his small town everybody remembers him: "People greet me, they are fond of me... They say: 'There goes happy birthday!'... That motivates me and makes my life happy. I have never received any [official] recognition despite a professional career of more than 50 years."

A few readers have requested the words of the song so they can join in at the next Venezuelan party, so here you go:

Cumpleaños Feliz (estilo Venezolano)
Ay que noche tan preciosa
es la noche de tu día
todos llenos de alegría
en esta fecha natal (natal, natal, natal)

Tus más íntimos amigos
esta noche te acompañan
te saludan y desean,
un mundo de felicidad (felicidad, felicidad)

Yo por mi parte deseo
lleno de luz este día
todos llenos de alegría
en esta fecha natal (natal, natal, natal)

Y que esta luna plateada
brinde su luz para ti (paraaaaa tiiiiiiii)
y ruego a Dios porque
pases un cumpleaños feliz

Cumpleaños feliz,
Te deseamos a ti,
Cumpleaños... [name of the birthday person],
Cumpleaños feliz!

Now you can "sopla las velas y pica la torta" (blow out the candles and cut the cake), turn up the tunes, pour out some Cuba Libres and get the party started.

Happy Birthday Simon Diaz - Venezuelan Folk Legend

2011-08-09T04:06:00.000-07:00

Venezuela's most famous folk musician, Simon Diaz, celebrated his 83rd birthday on 8 August with a huge outpouring of support for his life and work on the social networking site Twitter from Venezuelans all over the world.

A national treasure, Simon Narciso Diaz Marquez was born in Barbacoas, Guarico, in 1928 and over a career spanning more than 60 years has singlehandedly rescued for future generations the traditional working songs of the vast seasonally-flooded cattle country known as Los Llanos.

Tio Simon (Uncle Simon), as he is known to his fans, took these simple songs called tonadas and reinterpreted them with spare arrangements that highlighted the vocal, bringing to life the daily chores of the cattle ranch.

So influential has Simon Diaz been on Venezuelan folk music that his tonadas have been recorded by a host of singers across Latin America and Spain, including Mercedes Sosa, Caetano Veloso, Joan Manuel Serrat, and Gilberto Santa Rosa.

Tonada del Cabrestero
Camino del llano viene, Puntero en la soledad (repeat)
El cabestrero cantando, ay Su copla en la madrugá (repeat)

Ahó... a... a...
El toro pita la vaca
Y el novillo se retira
Como el novillo era toro
La vaca siempre lo mira
Mariposa, nube de agua

La luna busca la sombra, y no la puede encontrar(repeat)
Porque la sombra se esconde, Aaaa Detrás de la madrugá(repeat)

Ahó... a... a...
No llores más nube de agua
Silencia tanta amargura
Que toda leche da queso
Y toda pena se cura
Lucerito nube de agua

Ya viene la mañanita
Cayendo sobre el palmar
Y el cabestrero prosigue
Con su doliente cantar

Ahó... a... a...
Mañana cuando me vaya
Quien se acordará de mi
Solamente la tinaja
Por el agua que bebí
Lucerito nube de agua

Video of an early song by Simon Diaz from 1965 - El Peine

Video of a modern reworking by Babylon Motorhome of a Simon Diaz classic - Angustia

Dudamel and SBSO play Mahler at 2011 Proms

2011-08-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

Such is the fame of the Venezuelan classical music conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra that when tickets went on sale in May for their 5 August appearance at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall they sold out in three hours.
After setting the Proms alight four years ago with an impassioned performance of Venezuela's unofficial anthem Alma Llanera the orchestra showed a subtler side to their talents this time by taking on Mahler's Second Symphony, "Resurrection".
But the audience reaction to the orchestra's Mahler was equally ecstatic with a 15-minute standing ovation for the Venezuelan musicians.
"The capacity crowd, I should say, cheered and cheered and didn’t want the Venezuelans to leave. Who knows, maybe they’re still there, dancing the mambo; I had to retreat to write this review," noted Geoff Brown of the Arts Desk, an online reviews website.
Peter Reed of the Classical Music website was equally rapturous in his review: "With an orchestra of 170 (plus the 12-strong off-stage band), the quality of the playing – its freshness, maturity, clarity, attack and responsiveness – was thrilling, with any number of solos to make you go weak at the knees in admiration for the way these musicians were so inside Mahler’s soundworld, with playing so soft as to become almost a figment of aural imagination, and with the sell-out audience so quiet that a pin, let alone a mobile phone chirrup (save in the second movement), would have sounded like an explosion."
Writing in the Guardian newspaper, music critic Guy Dammann highlighted Dudamel's continuing influence on the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra and the special relationship between the two:
"At the centre of this whirlwind, of course, was Dudamel, whose talents grew with this orchestra, were honed by the Gothenburg Symphony, and are being tested by the LA Phil. But his relationship with the Bolivars is special. Conducting from memory and less concerned with pushing boundaries in interpretation than with simply getting the best out of his players, he inhabits both score and orchestra, offering a seamless conduit between the two."

Venezuelan band Bacalao Men play the UK

2011-04-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Fuerza London gig on 23 June at Clapham Grand is off! See below for new venue:

Venezuela's tropical fusionistas the Bacalao Men will be touring the UK in June, with a gig on 18 June at the Latin Garden (Nancy's Bordello) in Newcastle, as part of the Vamos Festival; a free gig on 21 June at Bolivar Hall, the Venezuelan cultural centre in London; and another on 23 June at Rich Mix near Brick Lane, where they will share the stage with the Afro-Colombian electro outfit Papaya Republik.

In songs like Malibu Azul and El Comegente (The Cannibal) Bacalao Men combine a zesty blend of rock, funk, jazz and electronica with a hearty splash of Afro-Latin flava and seventies salsa.

Formed in 1999 by singer and bassist Pablo Estacio with saxophonist Aurelio Martinez and drummer Sebastian Araujo, the band were later joined by Rafael Gomez, the guitarrist of the band Lapamariposa, and legendary Venezuelan salsa percussionist Vladimir Rivero.

They have just released their third album Sabaneando (Pilla & Esperanto Records), featuring guest singers and musicians from the Caracas music scene.

For more music samples check out the Bacalao Men on myspace

Venezuela Viva! dance extravaganza comes to UK

2011-04-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Tickets now on sale half price if you book direct from the Red Cross on 020 7877 7115

Incorporating a vibrant fusion of folk music, dance and history, "Venezuela Viva" is one of the most ambitious musical extravaganzas ever produced in Venezuela.

Luckily for us, it will be coming to the London Palladium on October 10th 2011 for a one-off charity event on behalf of the International Fundraising Committee of the British Red Cross.

Created by Carolina Lizarraga and featuring master harpist Carlos Orozco, the show electrified audiences in Edinburgh in 2005 when it played at the Scottish capital's famous annual arts festival.

"The show masquerades as a history lesson, tracing the birth of a nation from Spanish conquest to independence and beyond... but don’t be fooled; it’s one big party!", wrote an excited reviewer in the Guardian.

Anna Millar of The Scotsman newspaper was also bowled over by the show... "this large-scale spectacular celebrates Venezuelan life with gorgeous dancing girls, sensational Caribbean salsa and South American rhythms as 12 dancers and 12 musicians create a dazzling fantasy of flamenco passion and tropical energy."

Hugely ambitious in scope, "Venezuela Viva!" traces the evolution of Venezuelan folk music from its roots in four continents: the Arab culture of the Moors, who ruled most of Spain for nearly 800 years; the rhythms and vocal stylings of the fandanguillo de Malaga, flamenco and cante jondo brought to Venezuela by the Spanish conquistadors; the indigenous music of the native inhabitants of the New World played on flutes and maracas in sacred ceremonies overseen by shamans; and the hip-shaking drum dances of Africa, kept alive on sugar and cocoa plantations by the descendants of slaves.

Now bigger and even more spectacular than the Edinburgh shows, it features 25 dancers from Carolina Lizarraga's dance troupe supported by 10 musicians on stage playing everything from flamenco to modern salsa.

"From 1492 to the present day, the pictures, with voiceover, spin through 19 short scenes, journeying across continents and centuries, charting a history of wars, conquests and discoveries," wrote Lynne Walker in the Independent. "Each stage is portrayed in vivid choreography, danced with equal measures of grace and exuberance... As the show ends, you just want to jump on the next plane to Venezuela."

A UK tour organized by Theatre Productions Limited will follow the London Palladium show, although the dates and venues have yet to be released.

Tickets are on sale from £27.50 for Upper Circle seats, £65 for the Royal Circle and Stalls and £105 for the top priced Royal Circle and Stalls seats.

VIP tickets are also on sale from the Red Cross at £250, including top-price seats, an interval reception and post-show party in the presence of the artists

UPDATE: Tickets now on sale half price if you book direct from the Red Cross on 020 7877 7115

Venue: London Palladium
Date: 10 October 2011
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: www.seetickets.com or call the British Red Cross 0207-877-7115

Musica llanera: Reynaldo Armas - El Cardenalito

2011-02-24T12:34:00.000-08:00

Reynaldo Armas, from the small Llanos town of Guatacaros in Guarico State, is a highly-acclaimed singer and composer of Venezuela's national folk music joropo .

Here we see him at his best singing his theme song El Cardenalito in a concert from 2008 in Bogota.

Popular throughout the country, joropo is also known as musica llanera because of its strong cultural ties to Los Llanos, the seasonally-flooded cattle plains that stretch west from the Orinoco river to Colombia.

Joropo is traditionally played on harp, maracas and cuatro, a small four-stringed guitar, and sung in a rough nasal style by cowboy types in stetsons and pointed boots.

Reynaldo Armas is perhaps Venezuela's best-loved Llanero singer after Simon Diaz and has an incredible line-up of talent in his band, including the extraordinary harpist Leonard Jacome.

Joropo, which developed in the Americas from the zarzuelas and cante jondo brought over by the Spanish, is also a dance, a sort of waltz with jerky cucaracha-stomping steps by the man, known as zapateo, and dizzy twirls by his female partner.

El Cardenalito is a song about the rare bird of the same name (Carduelis cucullata), a Venezuelan finch known as the Red Siskin in English. This beautiful little red songbird is endemic to Falcon State. Sadly, the bright red plumes of the males and their high-pitched musical call make them highly sought after as caged birds and increasingly endangered in the wild.

Reynaldo Armas earned his nickname, El Cardenalito, for his sweet voice, which he alludes to in this autobiographical song that pays homage to his humble Llanero roots.

Here are the words, so you can sing along with Reynaldo:

Aquí está el cardenalito
el cardenal de los llanos guariqueño
el de la laguna vieja
el propio serenatero
el mismo de quince años
y el cuarto de los recuerdos.
nací en el cincuenta y tres
cuatro de agosto en una noche de invierno
el campo los guatacaros
suelo santamarieño
me recibió una mañana con relámpagos y truenos
camino siempre de frente
jamás he sido embustero
soy bastante religioso
para mi chucho es primero
el que me conoce sabe
si soy malo, si soy bueno
Modesta Enguaima y Nicasio
Nicasio Armas los que al mundo me trajeron
mi madre nos es necesario
decirle cuanto la quiero
mi viejo se me murió
que dios lo tenga en el cielo.

Maestro arpista usted que puede
yo se que puede jáleme duro el bordón
que esta noche estoy dispuesto
a regalarle mi amor
a la mujer mas bonita
que se encuentre en la reunión
y después que me enamore
amigo mío que salga o se meta el sol
me pasare todo el tiempo
derrochando inspiración
como lo hace un guariqueño
cuando entrega el corazón
saque pareja quien quiera
que en mi joropo no hay discriminación
que lo bailen zapateao
repicando ese tacón
que al arpa cuatro y maracas
vamos a rendirle honor
que lo goce y lo disfrute
el sifrinito con la hija del ricachón
la negrita Dorotea
con el zambo Juan Ramón
y hasta la viejita Bety
lo baile con tío Simón.

Esta es la primera vez que yo canto un merecure
que yo canto un merecure
como se canta en Apure
Casorla y Corozo pando
yo voy el llano cruzando
con mi verso y mi corrio
bendito este suelo mío
de belleza singular
bendito el palmarital
el arrendajo y la paraulata cantora
bendita la flor de bora
la flor de bora
que adormece en el estero
bendito sea el toro
de puntiaguda semblanza
bendita la garza blanca
con su vuelo cadencioso
bendito el caballo brioso
pacitrotero y veloz
dame talento mi dios
para cantarle a mi llano
y sentirme soberano
hay soberano
con la hidalguía del valiente
y bendito sea por siempre
por siempre siempre
mi pueblo venezolano

Gochilandia Park- Viva Los Andes!

2011-02-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

The street scenes from the Andean city of San Cristobal in Tachira bring to life this catchy anthem, launched to promote the annual Feria Internacional de San Sebastian, a popular local fiesta that takes place in the second half of January to honour Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of the city.

Festival events include bullfights, a beauty contest, concerts and street parades.

The video was directed by 100% Poindexther.

Gochilandia refers to the name Venezuelans use to refer to people from the Andes, "Gochos", just as people from the East End of London are called Cockneys.

Campesinos Rap - "No Compares"

2011-01-27T12:08:00.000-08:00

Desde Elorza los mas criollito del mapa! Hip Hop doesn't get more authentic than Campesinos Rap and their "No Compares".

Not a bad video for a local outfit from Elorza in the Llanos state of Apure and the rapping speaks for itself.

Simon Diaz & Hugo Blanco - El Peine

2011-01-15T08:19:00.000-08:00

"El Peine" ("The Comb") is a tongue-in-cheek song by Venezuelan folk singer Simón Díaz from the early days of his career in 1965, just after he'd got his big break singing with harpist and composer Hugo Blanco.

The video shows a young Díaz sitting with a furruco, the special drum used in gaita music from Maracaibo, which is played by rubbing the hands down the stick attached to the drum head.

From the beginning Díaz stood out as a comedian and "El Peine" is no exception, playing on the similarity in sound between the Spanish word for comb and the word for a delicate part of the male anatomy.

Accompanied by a jaunty harp, a four-stringed guitar known as a cuatro and maracas, the verse goes "lend me your comb to play some music and start the party with a barrel of guarapita", referring to the heady cocktail of raw cane alcohol and passion fruit juice called guarapita which is popular along Venezuela's Caribbean coast.

Tio Simón (Uncle Simon), as he is known to his fans, is considered a national treasure in Venezuela and for many years presented a children's show that promoted folk traditions, humour and songs.

Born in 1948 in Barbacoas and baptized Simón Narciso Díaz Márquez, he is famous for his renditions of folk songs known collectively as joropo or música criolla from the area known as Los Llanos, a vast swathe of seasonally-flooded cattle country that stretches from Venezuela into Colombia.

His most famous composition is "Caballo Viejo" - which became a huge international hit for the Franco-Spanish group the Gipsy Kings after they renamed the song "Bamboleo".

He also recorded a very popular version of the country's unofficial anthem "Alma Llanera".

Some of his most famous songs were remixed a few years ago by young electronica artists such as Baylon Motorhome, who added a lilting ska beat to the song "Angustia".

4to Poder and Horacio Blanco - Tolerancia

2010-12-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

Horacio Blanco, the lead singer of Venezuelan ska legends Desorden Publico, joins up-and-coming rap collective 4to Poder on their latest single "Tolerancia".

Click here for a video of 4to Poder song "Fuerza Pal Latino"

Click here for a video of Desorden Publico song "Monkey Ska" filmed in London

How to dance Venezuelan salsa

2010-11-09T10:51:00.000-08:00

A short video showing yours truly trying to dance salsa in a Venezuelan style. The majority of people who go to salsa dance classes in Europe and the USA learn to dance forwards and backwards using a basic Mambo step, but this won't help you in Venezuela where the dancing is on all four beats and the focus is on getting up close to your partner and doing turns in a very small space.

For the ladies this isn't such a problem, as they just follow the lead of the man they're dancing with, but guys will have to ditch the Mambo steps for something looser, going from four steps side to side, into the open step and initiating turns from there.

Salsa music is still massive in Venezuela, with a strong presence of salsa dura or salsa vieja, the classic 1970s tunes produced under the Fania label in New York by artists such as Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe, Ruben Blades and the Fania All Stars.

Homegrown Venezuelan salsa stars include Oscar D'Leon and Federico Betancourt and his Combo Latino.

The video was shot "camera secreta" style by Jorge Franca, a Venezuelan expat and pana mio.

Cuarto Poder - Fuerza Pal Latino

2010-10-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

Venezuelan hip hop group Cuarto Poder drop their debut US album "In Tha House" on 19 October, featuring the hit tracks "Playita Arenita" and “El Que Llevo, Llevo” with Julio Briceño, lead singer of the Grammy-award winning Venezuelan band Los Amigos Invisibles.

When I get a video of a track from the new album I'll put it up. In the meantime here's "Fuerza Pal Latino" from their second album "Tamos Bien".

To download MP3 tracks from the album "In Tha House" click here:

Los Amigos Invisibles - Nada Que Decir

2010-10-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

This is a blast from the past for all those fans of Venezuela's Los Amigos Invisibles who can still remember the excitement and joy they created 15 years ago when they first burst onto the music scene with their dancey Latin party tunes.

Just check out the groovy video... aciiiid!

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles cover of Los Fabulosos Cadillac's "Mal Bicho"

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

To buy the new CD 'Commercial' click here:
MP3 tracks from Los Amigos Invisibles:

Lo Que No Sabes Tu - Choroni beach stars in video

2010-09-18T07:56:00.000-07:00

One of the best beaches in Venezuela, Choroni's Playa Grande, plays a starring role in the latest video by Potro Alvarez "Lo Que No Sabes Tu".

It seems like a fitting way to mark international beach day.

To read a travel article with photos about Choroni, Puerto Colombia and the palm-fringed paradise of Playa Grande click here:

Diosa Canales - Tu Boquita

2010-09-13T08:41:00.000-07:00

The exuberant Venezuelan model and singer Diosa Canales has just released this video to her track "Tu Boquita", a bouncy tropical number much like the singer.

Keiser - Vengan Todos

2010-09-02T05:17:00.000-07:00

The video of this song by Keiser has been launched to coincide with the annual International Tourism Fair in Caracas, FitVen 2010, promoting Venezuela's many tourist destinations.

FitVen 2010 is being held in Paseo los Proceres in Caracas from 8-12 September.

Venezuelan legend Nestor Zavarce has died

2010-08-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Venezuelan singer and composer Nestor Zavarce passed away on Friday, 27 August. He was 74. Although he had not performed in public since 1974, his song "Faltan 5 pa’ las 12" has become such a Yuletide classic that no Venezuelan celebrations would be complete without his deep voice and the sound of the bells counting down to the New Year.

Zavarce was born in Jadacaquiva on the Paraguaná Peninsula in Falcón State on 9 April 1936, but before he celebrated his first birthday the family moved to Caracas.

He started his artistic career at the age of 12 when he secured the part of the young boy in the Venezuelan movie "La Balandra Isabel Llego Esta Tarde" in 1949 and went on to appear in more than 20 films and 30 telenovelas.

The song playing on the video is his first major hit, "El Pajaro Chogui", which sold over 1 million copies when it was released in the 1960s.

Devilled Ham and Joropo - Diablitos Underwood

2010-08-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Diablitos Underwood is a culinary institution in Venezuela, a brand of salty devilled ham that comes in little tins and tastes great spread thickly over buttered arepas or on crackers.

Every year Underwood hold a music event and for this year's Diablos Fest they've created some cute videos with cartoon bands covering different styles of Venezuelan music from the Llanero folk songs of Augusto Narciso Sisejaya Detodo, shown above, to reggaeton, hip hop, rock, electronica, ska, metal, and even a Manu Chao-style diablito, Chuchito Peraza, in the world music category.

All the tunes can be downloaded and you can vote for your favourites. Checkalo!

Palmeras Kanibales - Venezuelan ska in London

2010-08-05T02:51:00.000-07:00

Palmeras Kanibales are a Venezuelan group that fuses reggae, ska and rocksteady with Caribbean rhythms. Catch them on the London leg of their 6th European tour where they will present their new album and play three special gigs: an acoustic session and live Q&A at Bolivar Hall on the 12 August, plus two gigs with all the trimmings at the Hootananny in Brixton on 13 August and the underground warehouse venue Passing Clouds in Dalston, Hackney, on 14 August.

In the meantime, here's a video of the group playing "La Culebra".

Video: Desorden Publico - Monkey Ska

Video: Desorden Publico - New album

Los Amigos Invisibles - Como Sabes Tu

2010-07-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

'Como Sabes Tu' is the latest video from the band's new Latin Grammy winning album 'Comercial'.

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles cover of Los Fabulosos Cadillac's "Mal Bicho"

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

To buy the new CD 'Commercial' click here:

MP3 tracks from Los Amigos Invisibles:

Venezuelan maracas - much more than a hip accessory for rock bands

2010-07-16T05:14:00.000-07:00

Wilmer Montilla from Valera in Trujillo State shows off his maraca-ulous musical skills with a pair of traditional Venezuelan maracas.

Made from a hollow gourd filled with seeds from the capacho tree, maracas are played by indigenous shamans, who use them during curing and initiation ceremonies to make contact with the spirit world and the gods. Often they are decorated with incised symbols or designs related to mythical animals or figures and sometimes contain crystals, considered powerful channels of spiritual power.

During the Spanish conquest and the later arrival of African slaves, maracas were incorporated into the new forms of popular music that emerged from the melting pot of European, indigenous and African rhythms.

Today, maracas are a key instrument in Venezuelan joropo music where they provide the percussive drive of the music and keep the beat for dancers.

Montilla has played traditional Musica Llanera and more experimental music with groups such as Kapicua, as well as working with the flautist Huascar Barradas and guitarrist Aquiles Baez.

He is currently working with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela on the project "Mi Llano a lo Clásico", giving a classical treatment to the traditional joropo music of Llos Llanos.

Atkinson - Asi es Como Te Amo

2010-07-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

Venezuelan rock group Atkinson have a go at Mariachi chic on "Asi es Como Te Amo", the first single from their debut album "La Banda".

Shot in a hairdressing salon in Caracas, the video was directed by Peter Ponk (Pedro Gonzalez) and features cameos by Julio "Chulius" Briceño, lead singer of Los Amigos Invisibles, Danel Sarmiento, the drummer of Desorden Publico, singer Nana Cadavieco and scenester Ingrid Dreissig, among others.

Sentimiento Muerto - Una Mirada Dice todo y Nada

2010-07-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

A real blast from the past, Sentimiento Muerto performing live in 1988 on a Venevision programme called D'Noche.

One of the most influential of Venezuela's 1980s rock and new wave acts, the band originally called themselves Dead Feeling before changing to the Spanish version of the name.

It's sad to think that guitarrist Eduardo "Cayayo" Troconis, who went on to form the band Dermis Tatú in 1992, died more than 10 years ago.

Desorden Público to launch new album - teaser!

2010-06-08T04:50:00.000-07:00

Venezuelan ska legends Desorden Público are in final preparations for a highly-anticipated new album. This teaser video gives a hint of some of the new tracks. As soon as I get more info I'll update the post.

Los Amigos Invisibles in London - 9 July

2010-06-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

London is bracing for a Venezuelan invasion as Los Amigos Invisibles prepare to rock the UK capital to its ultra-funk foundations with a single live show on 9 July at the Clapham Grand (21-25 St John's Hill, Clapham Junction, SW11 1TT). Tickets are on sale through Ticketweb.com at £20.

To get a taste of the full Amigos experience, here's a video of the track 'En Cuatro' taken at a recent LAI concert in Argentina, where the boys blew the place apart with a trawl through their back catalogue.

After 19 years of creating infectious dance music the Invisible Friends show no signs of slowing down. Their latest CD 'Comercial' won them a Latin Grammy.

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles cover of Los Fabulosos Cadillac's "Mal Bicho"

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

To buy the new CD 'Commercial' click here:
MP3 tracks from Los Amigos Invisibles:

Bacalao Men - El Comegente (The Cannibal)

2010-04-10T06:36:00.000-07:00

"El Comegente" ("The Cannibal") is a song from the Bacalao Men's second album "El Nuevo Bugalu".

It tells the story of Dorangel Vargas, a skinny, softly-spoken tramp with a beard who shocked the country in February 1999 when he was arrested for killing and eating vagrants in the Andean city of San Cristobal, Tachira State.

After his arrest, the self-confessed "people-eater" (comegente) served up a slew of juicy revelations about his cannibal exploits, like a shy contestant on Masterchef listing his favourite recipes.

Vargas, 42 years old at the time, calmly described to reporters how he killed and cut up his victims and then cooked the parts he liked best in his makeshift shack under a bridge over the Rio Torbes, between San Cristobal and Tariba.

"Sure I eat people," he told reporters, claiming he had eaten ten people in the two years before his capture.

Explaining how he would target vagrants or council workers sent to clear the scrub near his shack, he said he would sneak up on them and spear or club them with a metal pipe.

He even offered advice on how to marinate the meat and which parts of the body to avoid.

"Anyone can eat human flesh," he added, "but you have to wash and garnish it well to avoid diseases."

A fussy eater, he avoided the hands, feet and testicles of his victims because they gave him indigestion and said he would never eat a woman, "because they don't mess with anyone".

"I only eat the parts with muscles, particularly thighs and calves which are my favourite," he told a local newspaper, saying he liked eating skinny men best.

"I make a very tasty stew with the tongue and I use the eyes to make a nutritious and healthy soup," he added.

Dorangel said he had no regrets about the killings. Instead, like some modern Sweeney Todd, he boasted how he had shared his grisly meals with others who "praised the fillings in my empanadas" - although his guests were clearly unaware of the true contents of his fried maize-dough turnovers.

Only two victims were identified by police from the hands and feet found near Dorangel's shack but the bones and skull fragments of six other victims were eventually discovered, confirming "El Comegente" as Venezuela's first proven serial killer.

The bizarre revelations about his eating habits led local newspapers to dub him "the Hannibal Lecter of the Andes".

Los Amigos Invisibles - Plastic Woman

2010-04-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

Venezuelan band Los Amigos Invisibles were invited to play live on Texan radio station KUT FM in Austin, recently, cooking up a cool version of the track "Plastic Woman" from their Latin Grammy winning album "Commercial".

To preview "Commercial" and get songs in MP3 format click here:

To buy Los Amigos latest CD "Commercial" click here:

Patafunk - Bailando

2010-04-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

Venezuela's very own Patafunk rocked the SXSW South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, in March, with this laid-back Summery groove "Bailando".

Patafunk is much more than a band, it's a brand according to Carlos Martinez, who not only performs as a DJ under the same name but has also started a Patafunk clothing line.

His first CD "Dubdelic" was a self-produced album of funk, electronica, jazz, reggae and Latin vibes on which he played all the instruments and did the mixing.

Sacha Nairobi - Princesa

2010-04-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

After getting a couple of emails asking me to feature this track by Miami-based Venezuelan singer Sacha Nairobi, I decided to bow to popular demand and put up the video with the lyrics so you can all sing along at home.

The daughter of Venezuelan composer Enrique Hidalgo and sister to Jesus and Jannio of the group Los Hidalgo, Sacha grew up listening to folk music and composes all her songs on the cuatro, the traditional Venezuelan four-string guitar.

The track appears on the Putumayo compilation CD "Radio Latino". Enjoy.

Princesa
Mira
me acostumbré a las cosas buenas de la vida,
ya tanto tiempo que no viajo en limosina,
los sacrificios que hago por tí!.

Antes
de vacaciones cuatro meses para Italia,
con todo pago, tres criadas y una nana,
ahora me quedo en la casita preparándote comida.

Era princesa
pero no era felíz de esa manera
y ahora contigo estoy mejor
aunque no tenga dinero
porque yo me alimento de tus besos,
mi cielo, mi cielo!

No tengo dinero, pero tengo amor (x2)

Gucci, Prada,
Versace y Christian Dior ya no son nada,
te digo, la paso bien sin ropa entre tu cama, que rico!
y ahora mis amigas ricas mueren de la envidia.

Era princesa
pero no era felíz de esa manera
y ahora contigo estoy mejor
aunque no tenga dinero,
porque yo me alimento de tus besos,
mi cielo, mi cielo!

No tengo dinero, pero tengo amor
No tengo diamantes, pero tengo tu calor
No tengo dinero, pero tengo amor
Ya no tengo lujo, pero tengo tu pasion
No tengo dinero, pero tengo amor
Tengo una vida llena de amor

Gustavo Dudamel gets a hot dog named after him!

2010-03-12T11:53:00.000-08:00

You know you've made it in Los Angeles when you get a hot dog named after you. Just ask Venezuelan conducter Gustavo Dudamel, the hottest property in classical music at the moment at just 29 years old.

Dudamel, who comes from Barquisimeto, currently spends his time between Sweden, where he is the principal conductor of the Gothenberg Symphony Orchestra, and the United States, where he's the musical director of the Los Angeles Philarmonic.

The mop-top conductor has made such a big splash in LA that Pink's, the most famous hot-dog joint in town, has invited him onto its Super Specials menu.

The "L.A. Philarmonic Conductor Gustavo Dudamel Dog" is a mouthful even before you tuck into this "stretch hot dog" covered with guacamole, American and Swiss cheese, fajitas mix, topped with jalapeno slices and tortilla chips.

Family-run hot dog haven Pink's has been feeding Hollywood stars and A-listers since Paul Betty Pink first opened a fast-food stand on the corner of La Brea and Melrose in 1939.

Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Snoop Dog, Jay Leno, the Hoff, there are few LA stars who have not popped in to this world famous landmark for a treat, but few are ever offered the chance to appear on the menu.

Dudamel joins a very select group of the hot-dog-honoured elite that includes Martha Stewart, Rosie O'Donnel and Ozzy Osbourne.

But why go for typical Tex-Mex ingredients, when the folks at Pink's could have made the maestro's dog more Venezuelan?

Where's the salsa rosada, for example, the mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise that you only seem to find in Venezuela?

My last hot dog from a street stall in Caracas was a true work of art, a symphony of crushed potato chips and chopped up cabbage and onions slathered in about six different sauces.

Venezuelan fiesta in London- 13/03/2010

2010-03-04T12:04:00.000-08:00

Vamos a rumbear! The Venezuelan community in England will be congregating at London's Abacus Bar on Saturday, 13 March, for the second big, sweaty fiesta of the year.

With DJ Hernan Atencio spinning the hottest tropical tunes, Ron Santa Teresa providing the rum cocktails and Arepa & Co serving up typical snacks like arepitas and tequeños, Venezuelan partygoers can look forward to a big night out.

The party is being organized by Venenin (Venezolanos en Inglaterra), a social group that caters for Venezuelan expatriates in the UK, and a big crowd is expected.

Doors open at 9 p.m. and hardcore revellers can dance their way thru to 4 a.m. Admission is £7 before 11 p.m. and £10 after.

Abacus Bar is located in the City of London at 24 Cornhill (EC3V 3ND), a short stroll from Bank tube station.

For more information go to http://www.venenin.co.uk or check out the Venenin page on Facebook.

Los Amigos Invisibles - Sexy

2010-02-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

Venezuela's best party band take some inspiration from the spoof comedy Airline for the video to "Sexy", a great song from their 1998 album "The New Sound of the Venezuelan Gozadera" on David Byrne's label Luaka Bop.

If only flying was this much fun.

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles cover of Los Fabulosos Cadillac's "Mal Bicho"

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

CD Review: Venezuelan Zinga Son Vol 1 - Amigos Invisibles

CD Review: Arepa 3000 - Los Amigos Invisibles

Joropo: Leonard Jacome - Tocando Arpa

2010-02-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the sheer skill of a performer can blow you away. That's how I felt after watching the young Venezuelan harpist Leonard Jacome playing with Reynaldo Armas at the Teresa Carreno theatre in Caracas.

If you know anything more about this amazing young harpist please leave a comment.

Orlando Watussi - Las Calaveras Blancas

2010-02-03T08:44:00.001-08:00

One of the unsung heroes of Venezuelan salsa, sonero Orlando Castillo "Watussi" deserves a place in the pantheon of musical legends for a 40-year career in Latin music in which he has played with such international greats as Cortijo,Bobby Valentin, Joe Cuba, Kako, Larry Harlow, and salsa supergroup La Tipica '73.

A native of Marin, in Yaracuy State, Watussi's musical apprenticeship was with Federico y Su Combo Latino, before branching out and singing with Los Satelites, and Porfi Jimenez y su Orquesta.

In 1990 he made his UK debut with none other than the legendary mambo king Tito Puente.

In total, he has sung on over 60 albums by other artists and released seven albums of his own material.

"Las Calaveras Blancas" is a composition by Jose Mangual Jr and features on Watussi's album Barrio, produced by the Venezuelan record company Latin World.

Orlando "Watussi" is currently based in Milan, Italy.

Visit his MySpace page for more details: http://www.myspace.com/orlandowatussi

Omar Acedo - Volvi Por Ti

2010-02-02T08:36:00.000-08:00

Venezuelan singer Omar Acedo leaves behind his days in Salserin, Bacanos and Calle Ciega for a stab at a solo career with his new single "Volvi Por Ti", a romantic pop-ballad.

Filmed in Colombia by local director Daniel Duran, the video shows the 26-year-old Maracucho driving a Ford mustang round the country lanes outside Bogota.

Book Review: Travels on the Venezuelan Dance Floor

2010-01-25T11:02:00.000-08:00

Subtitled "one man's journey to the heart of Salsa", UK poet Grevel Lindop's new book "Travels on the Dance Floor" is a voyage of discovery that takes him from the plodding monotony of a salsa class in rainy Manchester to the sexy, sizzling dancehalls and street parties of Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic as he tries to learn the intricate turns and fancy footwork needed to master the main tropical rhythms of salsa, timba and merengue.

Given the author's obvious disadvantages - he's English, 6'4" tall, wears a size 12 shoe and has two left feet - converting himself into a slick Latin dance god is no easy task, but Grevel persists and in doing so comes up with an account of his trials and tribulations that is both touching and informative and will certainly appeal to the growing salsa dance crowd in the UK and elsewhere.

For more information and to purchase "Travels on the Dance Floor" click here:

Venezuelan fiesta in London- 30/01/2010

2010-01-22T12:26:00.000-08:00

Vamos a rumbear! The Venezuelan community in England will be fleeing from the chilly weather and heading off to London's Abbey Bar on Saturday, 30 January, for the first big, sweaty fiesta of the year.

With DJ Hernan Atencio spinning the hottest tropical tunes, Ron Santa Teresa providing the rum cocktails and Arepa & Co serving up typical snacks like arepitas and tequeños, Venezuelan partygoers can look forward to a big night out.

The party is being organized by Venenin (Venezolanos en Inglaterra), a social group that caters for Venezuelan expatriates in the UK, and a big crowd is expected.

Doors open at 9 p.m. and hardcore revellers can dance their way thru to 4 a.m. Admission is £7 before 11 p.m. and £10 after.

Abbey Bar is located in the City of London at 30-33 Minories, a short stroll from Tower Hill or Aldgate tube stations.

For more information go to http://www.venenin.co.uk or check out the Venenin page on Facebook.

How Music Saved Venezuela's Kids - Documentary

2009-12-15T06:14:00.000-08:00

Alan Yentob's documentary "How Music Saved Venezuela's Children" in the BBC's Imagine series focuses on the extraordinary Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, the exceptionally talented conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the classical music programme for poor and shantytown children known as "El Sistema" that has made such an impact on all their lives.

Video: Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra performing Mambo at the Albert Hall in 2007

Video: Gustavo Dudamel interviewed at the Proms in 2007

CD review: "Fiesta" Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela

To download tracks from the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra's latest album "Fiesta" click here:

Maracaibo 15 - Amparito

2009-12-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

Feliz Navidad and a Very Merry Christmas to all those who have supported this blog over the last two years by regularly popping in to listen to the songs and watch the videos.

To celebrate another yuletide I give you Maracaibo 15's Christmas classic "Amparito", a nostalgic, modern gaita created by Ricardo Portillo.

Venezuelan gaitas, originating in Zulia state, are unique to Venezuela and are played exclusively in the run up to Christmas, giving the artists only a few short months to get their new songs on the radio and TV and build up a following.

That's why the golden oldies of gaita such as "Amparito" from 1977 and other songs such as Maracaibo 15's "La Negra del Tamunangue" and Astolfo Romero's "Una Florecita" still get played every year at Christmas parties, alongside Nestor Zavarce's New Year tearjerker "Faltan Cinco Pa' Las Doce".

I started this site after trawling through Youtube for hours to find music that reminded me of Venezuela and thinking how much easier it would be if I could go to a place where I could guarantee I'd find good quality videos of my favourite Venezuelan artists and some information about them.

There wasn't such a place so I decided to make one.

Unfortunately, many of the best old songs don't have good videos to accompany them and there is precious little material in English about the great artists of Venezuela, which is a shame.

How else are the Youtube generation going to find out about these songs?

For those who do understand a bit of Spanish I include a short video biography of Ricardo Portillo made by students of the UNICA in Maracaibo:

Nana Cadavieco - No Hay

2009-12-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

"No Hay" is the first single from Venezuelan singer-songwriter Nana Cadavieco's debut solo album "Expose".

A small singer with a big voice, Nana has performed in the past with Gaelica and Masseratti 2lts, but her solo effort stands on its own, thanks to Nana's smart, sassy, indie-chick attitude and some great songs.

The album, produced by Erik Aldrey and mastered in London by Richard "Dick" Beetham, also features some tracks in English as the singer felt the musicality of the English words better suited the sentiments she wanted to express.

The video, directed by Hector Orbegoso, shows Nana swinging around Caracas and takes her from a wind-driven Alejandro Otero sculpture to a spinning car wash.

Cadavieco has already presented the album in a series of shows in Spain and plans to come back to Europe in the new year after a tour of major Venezuelan cities. She may even come to London in 2010 if we're lucky.

To purchase a copy of the Nana Cadavieco's CD "Expose" click here:

Track Listing:
1. Rincon
2. No Hay
3. Cancion de Cuna
4. Voy Por Ti
5. Let Me Go
6. Shanti
7. Drive Alone (Part I)
8. Drive Alone (Part II)
9. Posicion Fetal
10. Aqui & Ahora

La Vida Boheme - Radio Capital

2009-12-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

The stunning debut video from Caracas rock band La Vida Boheme of their first single: "Radio Capitol".

With the poise and attack of British bands like Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys and the old-school punk swagger of The Clash and The Ramones, La Vida Boheme have brought a new sound and a new aesthetic to the Venezuelan rock scene.

Formed in 2006, La Vida Boheme are Rafael Perez, Daniel De Sousa, Sebastian Ayala and Henry D’Arthenay. The video was directed by Carl Zitelmann.

Gabba gabba hey!

Los Amigos Invisibles - Mal Bicho

2009-11-23T01:04:00.000-08:00

The Invisible Friends highlight the anti-war message on their version of this classic song by Argentina's Los Fabulosos Cadillacs.

The track appears on the CD "Vos Sabes... Como Te Esperaba!" (Pop Art Discos) a new tribute album to Los Fabulosos Cadillac's released in Latin America on 13 November 2009.

Los Amigos Invisibles are joined on the tribute album by Andres Calamaro, Los Cafres, Los Autenticos Decadentes, Kapanga, Arbol, Cuentos Borgeanos, Los Tipitos, No Te Va A Gustar, Massacre, Aterciopelados, Cartel de Santa and Los Pericos.

As soon as I get a video with better sound I'll put it up.

Here's the lyrics:

Mal Bicho

Vos que andas diciendo que hay mejores y peores
Vos que andas diciendo que se debe hacer
Vos que andas diciendo que hay mejores y peores
Vos que andas diciendo que se debe hacer
Escucha lo que canto, pero no lo confundir.
Es de Paz lo que canto.
Que me hablas de privilegios, de una raza soberana, superiores, inferiores, Minga de Poder!
Como se te ocurre, que algunos son elegidos, y otros son para el descarte, ambiciones de poder

Es malo tu destino
Que marco tu camino?
La cancion que es valiente
Es canción para siempre.

Como dijo mi abuela: "Aquí el que no corre vuela"
Y en el Planeta son tantos. Como pueden ser tantos?
En la escuela nos enseñan a memorizar fechas de batallas
Pero que poco nos enseñan de Amor.

Discriminar. Eso no esta nada bien, ante los ojos de Dios todos somos iguales
Sos el que hace las guerras, dicta falsas condenas
El que ama la violencia, que no tiene conciencia

Nunca piensa, nunca piensa, nunca piensa. Murderers. Mambo!

¡Mal bicho!
Todos te dicen que sos
Mal bicho
Así es como te ves
Mal Bicho
¡Mal bicho!
Todos te dicen que sos
Mal bicho
Así es como te ves
Mal Bicho
¡Mal bicho!
Todos te dicen que sos
Mal bicho
Así es como te ves
Mal Bicho

Por qué vas lastimando a quién se ve distinto?
Imponiendo posturas siempre con mano dura.

Mal bicho!
Todos te dicen que sos
Mal bicho
Así es como te ves
Mal Bicho
Mal bicho!
Todos te dicen que sos
Mal bicho
Así es como te ves
Mal Bicho
Mal bicho!
Todos te dicen que sos
Mal bicho
Así es como te ves
Mal Bicho

Vos tenés pal' abrigo otros mueren del frio
El que anda matando, el que va torturando...

Mal bicho!
Todos te dicen que eres
Mal bicho
Asi es como te ves
Mal Bicho

Yo no voy
A la guerra
A la violencia
A la injusticia
Ni a su codicia...

Digo no! (x 10)

Paz en el mundo!
No ha

Voy, voy, voy. Yo no voy. Yo no voy, voy, voy. Yo no voy pa' la guerra.
Yo no voy, voy, voy. Yo no voy. Yo no voy, voy, voy. Yo no voy.
Yo no voy, voy, voy. Yo no voy. Yo no voy, voy, voy. Yo no voy pa' la guerra.
Yo no voy, voy, voy. Yo no voy. Yo no voy, voy, voy. Yo no voy.

Tres Dueños - Fiera Salvaje

2009-11-14T09:18:00.000-08:00

Venezuelan hip-hop trio Tres Dueños keep it light and frothy on "Fiera Salvaje", a track from their 2005 album Grandes Lexicos.

Here's a taste of their lyrical flow:

Mami vamos pa' la playa
Ponte el hilo.
Yo llevo la calle y tengo kilos
Hasta las seis de la mañana
Solos en la orilla
Tomando caipirinha.
Lirica con piña niña
Y mira este tumbao
Que vengo arrecostao
Soy como el cacao
Con mi song… choun
Coca cola y ron
Pa rompe el colchon
Tengo el don
Asi que "Give me, give me"
Me gusta tu bikini mini
Y baila pa tú papi
Que te pone happy
Soy tu triki-traki
Muevete despacio
Morena, sirena
Ahora echate en la arena
Y hazlo asi,
Asi, asi como fiera salvaje
Asi, asi como fiera salvaje

Solares - Antonin Artaud - Live

2009-11-14T06:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the distortion on the live recording but my favourite Venezuelan rock band Zapato 3 are back with a bang under their new name Solares and have embarked on a major tour of Venezuelan cities in the run up to Christmas.

The tour will take them to:
PUERTO ORDAZ: PALADIUM CLUB ITALO THURS 26 NOV.
MARACAY : FIVE BAR FRI 27 NOV.
CARACAS. EL TEATRO BAR SAT 28 NOV.
MARGARITA. BRITISH BULLDOG THURS 3 DEC.
MERIDA: LA PLAZA DE TOROS FRI 4 DEC.
MARACAIBO: RASTA BAR SAT 5 DEC.
CARACAS: MOULIN ROUGE SUN 6 DEC

Solares, like Zapato 3, is led by singer Carlos Segura with his brother Alvaro on guitar, Hugo Valbuena on bass and Jaime Verdaguer on keyboards.

"Antonin Artaud" - named after the eccentric French poet, actor and playwright - is a classic Zapato 3 song from the old days.

I have included the words so you can sing along.

Antonin Artaud
Soy metafisica violenta
Soy surealista apocaliptico
Soy la encarnacion de Napoleon
y estoy condenado a un manicomio

Esperando en la tarde la dosis que calma el miedo

Soy distorcion intelectual
Soy verborrea visceral
Estoy negado y encerrado

Esperando en la tarde la dosis que calma el miedo
Esperando en la tarde la dosis que calma el miedo

Soy el organo motor
Soy el rojo saturado
Soy metafisica violenta

Estoy loco e ignorado

Esperando en la tarde la dosis que calma el miedo
Esperando en la tarde la dosis que calma el miedo

Adolescent's Orquesta - Persona Ideal

2009-11-12T11:46:00.000-08:00

Some smooth salsa romantica from Adolescent's Orquesta with their song "Persona Ideal" performed live in Medellin, Colombia.

The song appears on the group's greatest hits album: "La Historia: Los Exitos".

To hear preview tracks from "La Historia: Los Exitos" click here:

Oscar D'Leon - Ni Frio, Ni Calor

2009-11-11T13:32:00.000-08:00

Oscar D'Leon didn't win a gong at the recent Latin Grammy Awards for his latest album "Tranquilamente... Tranquilo", but it's still a triumphant return to top form.

The video shows the first single off the album "Ni Frio, Ni Calor" ("Not cold, Not Hot").

Tranquilamente... Tranquilo
Track Listing:
1. Ni Frío Ni Calor
2. Hasta Que Vuelvas
3. Tienes Uno, Tengo Otra
4. El Papelito
5. Tranquilamente...Tranquilo
6. Esta Ausencia
7. Quiéreme
8. Yo Me Siento Como En Casa
9. La Cocaleca

To hear tracks from "Tranquilamente... Tranquilo" click here:

Click here for a video of Oscar D'Leon performing "Lloraras" in Cali:

Click here for a video of Oscar D'Leon and Wladimir Lozano performing "Que Cosa Tan Linda" back in the days of the Salsa Mayor:

Click here for a video of Oscar D'Leon and Zona 7 performing "Mirala":

Los Amigos Invisibles win Latin Grammy

2009-11-06T00:53:00.000-08:00

Los Amigos Invisibles win Latin Grammy

Venezuelan artists were lauded, applauded and showered with victory on Thursday night at the 10th Latin Grammy Awards at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

First, Jose Antonio Abreu, the man who started the youth orchestra system picked up a Grammy for his work with shanty town and underprivileged kids.

Then, Los Amigos Invisibles picked up the gong for "Best Alternative Music Album" for their latest Cd "Comercial" - beating the other artists in the category, Babasonicos, with the album “Mucho”, Kinky with “Barracuda”, Novalima with “Coba Coba” and Zoé with “Reptiletric”.

The first single from the album, "Mentiras", has been a massive hit for the band across Latin America and the USA.

Los Amigos were still walking the green carpet when their award was presented. “We thought they would give it to another band,” a band member joked backstage.

"Comercial" was produced by Cachorro Lopez and Dimitri from Paris and features guest vocals by Natalia lafourcade. It was recorded in New York studio The Magic Shop and mastered at Stearling studios.

This is the Venezuelan band's first Latin Grammy and will bring their work to a much wider audience.

To preview "Commercial" and get songs in MP3 format click here:

To buy Los Amigos latest CD "Commercial" click here:

Los Telecaster - Todo Muerto

2009-11-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

"Todo Muerto" - the latest single by Venezuelan rock band Los Telecaster - has just been released with a video set in Mexico City directed by the L.A.-based Venezuelan filmmaker David Ramos and his brother Saul.

The song comes from the band's new EP, also called "Todo Muerto", which includes the tracks "Taxi", "Toronja", "Siete Cueros" and "Buen Doctor".

The new tracks were recorded at Grabaciones Jamaica in Mexico City, produced by Santiago “Chango” Gonzalez and David Francis O. Gorman and released on the Discos Tamarindo record label.

Video: Los Telecaster - Dandy Boy

Blanquito Man and Celso Piña - El Tren

2009-11-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

After a long hiatus that has seen him working on solo projects with Mexican band Control Machete, Puerto Rican rappers Calle 13 and Los Amigos Invisibles (on a cover version of the Fabulosos Cadilacs' "Mal Bicho"), Jose Andres Blanco, AKA Blanquito Man is back with a new King Chango album in the works called "The Return of King Chango".

The rapscalious Venezuelan rude boy also has a new moniker: "Zuzuko, the Generous Giver of Uku Uku".

As a taste of what's to come, here's a cumbia-tastic collaboration Blanquito Man did with Mexican accordion legend Celso Piña from the album "Mundo Colombia".

Dame Pa Matala - Venezuela

2009-10-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

Oscar D'Leon, Amigos Invisibles at Latin Grammys

2009-09-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Los Amigos Invisibles win their first Latin Grammy

Three important Venezuelan music legends have been nominated to the Latin Grammy Awards this year: Salsa king Oscar D'Leon, Latin pop-rockers Los Amigos invisibles and balladeer Franco de Vita.

Oscar D'Leon is competing in the category for Best Salsa Album with his latest CD "Tranquilamente... Tranquilo", a triumphant return to top form.

Oscar will be going to head to head in the Salsa category with Cuban salsero Isaac Delgado and Gilberto Santa Rosa.

Los Amigos Invisibles are nominated for Best Alternative Music Album with their latest CD "Comercial" - featuring the single "Mentiras", a massive hit for the band across Latin America and the USA.

The Invisible Friends face stiff competion from the Peruvian electro-folk group Novalima and Argentine rockers Babasonicos.

Veteran balladeer Franco de Vita's CD "Simplemente La Verdad", meanwhile, is up for Best Singer-Songwriter Album, alongside the Guatemalan singer Ricardo Arjona and the Brazilian Caetano Veloso.

The 10th annual Latin Grammy Awards will take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on 5 November, and fireworks are expected as the top talents from Latin American and the USA take to the stage.

Leading the list of nominations are Puerto Rico hip-hop group Calle 13 with five nods, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Urban Music Album, Best Alternative Song and Best Short Form Music Video for "La Perla", which features salsa legend Ruben Blades.

A special Person of the Year award will be presented to the Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel.

The event will be broadcast live on the Hispanic channel Univision.

Musica Llanera: How to dance Joropo

2009-08-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

If you ever wondered how people in the Llanos dance a traditional joropo then here is your answer.

The word "joropo" originally meant "a party" but has come to mean both the traditional music of harp, maracas and cuatro played in the vast prairies of Venezuela and Colombia known as Los Llanos and also the dance - a kind of waltz that works up to a series of faster and faster twists of the woman and a cockroach-stomping display by the man that echoes the frisky footwork of a young colt or a fighting cock.

These dances still take place in Los Llanos at town fairs, village fetes and house parties and are very much a part of Llanos life.

Sadly, I have no information on who the dancers are or where the event took place but it's a great video, despite the unnecessary camera tricks.

Bacalao Men - Malibu Azul

2009-07-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

A great video from Caracas band Bacalao Men of their song "Malibu Azul" made on the program Paint.

Mango Funk - Trankilo

2009-07-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

Maracaibo band Mango Funk hit big with "Trankilo" - a track from their album "El Nuevo Beat del Tambor", which fuses elements of Afro-Venezuelan beats with funk and electronica.

Basically, it's a break up song: "Mujer, dejame beber, dejame vivir tranquilo."

There are clear echoes of Los Amigos Invisibles on "El Nuevo Beat del Tambor", with the upbeat electronica and slow bossa nova tracks, but Mango Funk are succesfully carving out their own niche and "Guira y Tumbadora" is a great attempt at making folk drum beats funky.

It's a confident first album considering the band only got together in 2003, when guitarist and lead singer Alexis Romero hooked up with Miguel Romero on bass guitar, Melvin Portillo on percussion, and Luis Cova on drums.

Later, knob-twiddler and turntablist Carlos Guillen and keyboard player Oscar Vargas came on board to fill out the sound.

Check out their MySpace page:

I like the Gilbert and George inspired poster.

Calypso Carnival in El Callao

2009-07-02T08:35:00.000-07:00

Venezuela is a country of parties, fiestas and dances. Countless fiestas take place all over the country, from individual celebrations of local patron saints to the gaitas and parrandas of Zulia state at Christmas, the Dancing Devils of Yare and Chuao during Corpus Cristi and the African drum dancing in honour of Saint John the Baptist on 24 June.
One small town that beats them all is El Callao, a centre for gold mining in Bolivar State that comes alive every year for four days during carnival to the vibrant sounds of calypso and soca.
El Callao also boasts a colourful cast of characters who accompany the comparsas (floats with a sound system and a themed crowd of dancers).
Las Madamas - Women wearing colourful dresses and turbans of 19th century Caribbean.
Medio Pintos - Boys and men covered in tar or paint or any other black sludgy stuff they can get their hands on. The idea is that you give them a coin called a "medio" (1 Bolivar Fuerte will do these days) or they paint you with sludge.

In 2010, the Callao carnival will be held from 13-16 February.

Mermelada Bunch - Los Hijos de la Cerveza

2009-05-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

Another joyous ode to booze from Maracaibo band Mermelada Bunch with their "Hijos de la Cerveza" ("Sons of Beer") a nice companion piece to their earlier track "Comando Borracho".

Hijos de la Cerveza

Somos los reyes, amantes de la cebada
gozamos mucho, nadie nos gana
Siempre animados vivimos de fiesta en fiesta
somos muy unidos por eso nos respetan

Los campeones (Al tomar)
Los campeones (Al bailar)
Los campeones a la hora de gozar

Somos alegres (Si es verdad)
Somos unidos (¡Si es verdad!)
Somos juntos una gran fraternidad

Somos los hijos de la cerveza
buenos muchachos y a nosotros nos respetan
Somos los hijos de la cerveza
buenos muchachos y a nosotros nos respetan

(¡Atencion atencion! todos preparados
Todos con sus jarras arriba
Recuerden que somos los mejores, somos los campeones
Fuimos hechos para ganar)

Elegido siempre somos los mejores
habemos flacos y barrigones
No nos importa si no tenemos dinero
asi se caiga el mundo la cerveza primero

Somos atentos (Si señor)
Somos apuestos (Como no!)
Los campeones en el tema del amor

Somos hermanos (Si es verdad)
Somos amigos (¡Si es verdad!)
Somos unidos la mejor fraternidad

(Vamos muchachos no se vayan se lo pido
No hemos perdido, no hemos perdido
Vamos muchachos no se vayan por favor
aun queda tiempo, ahora es que viene lo mejor)

¿Y donde estan? (¿Y donde estan?)
¿Y donde estan? (¿Y donde estan?)
¿Y donde estan los que nos iban a brindar?
¿Y donde estan? (¿Y donde estan?)
¿Y donde estan? (¿A donde van?)
¿Y donde estan los que nos iban a brindar?

Los Amigos Invisibles: Vivire Para Ti

2009-05-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Los Amigos Invisibles win their first Latin Grammy for the album "Commercial"

Another great track from "Commercial", the latest CD by Los Amigos Invisibles, which is scheduled for a 9-June release.

"Vivire Para Ti" features guest vocals by the Mexican singer Natalia Lafourcade, who won a Latin Grammy for her 2005 album "Casa".

Chulius and Natalia make it one sweet duet.

Vivire Para Ti

Ven y dame todo lo que tienes
que yo esperando estare aqui
ven y besame hasta la muerte
Y asi sere yo por ti feliz

Te entregare mi vida
y no tendre salida
solo tuyo sere

Te llevare hasta el cielo
y dormire en tus senos
solo tuyo sere

Ven y dame todo lo que quieras
que yo esperando estare por ti
ven y llevate lo que prefieras
que todo todo esto es para ti

Y entregare mi vida
y no tendre salida
solo tuya sere
te llevare hasta el cielo
y dormire en tus senos
solo tuya sere

Tu te entregas lentamente
y yo te toco dulcemente
anda quedate en mi mente
hagamos que este amor reviente

Tu seras la que me inspire
me consienta y me domine
no dejemos que termine
pues yo hare que te fascine
vivire para ti

To download Los Amigos Invisibles MP3 tracks click here:

To buy the new CD "Commercial" click here:

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

CD Review: Venezuelan Zinga Son Vol 1 - Amigos Invisibles

CD Review: Arepa 3000 - Los Amigos Invisibles

Documentary - El Carrao de Palmarito

2009-04-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

Venezuelan director John Petrizzelli's award-winning 1998 documentary about Llanero singer Juan de Los Santos Contreras, better known as El Carrao de Palmarito, is a classic of the genre.

The 26-minute film is in Spanish but non-Spanish speakers will still enjoy the music and the images of the Llanos region.

For more information about the life of El Carrao de Palmarito, who died in 2002 aged 74, click here:

Legend of the LLanos - El Carrao de Palmarito

2009-04-24T11:50:00.000-07:00

Venezuelan folk music lost one of its greatest legends on 10 December 2002 with the passing of Juan de los Santos Contreras, a composer, singer and arranger of traditional Joropo music, better known to his fans as El Carrao de Palmarito.

He was 74.

El Carrao left behind 17 children, more than 40 albums of music, a movie he made in the 60s with Mexican singer Javier Solis, an award-winning documentary about his life and hundreds of trophies won in singing contests in Venezuela and Colombia.

He was a true "hijo de la llanura", a son of the Llanos, the great flood plains of the Orinoco basin that extend into Colombia.

He was born in 1928 in the small village of Palmarito in Apure State to a mestizo mother from the Andes and a Yaruro Indian father from the banks of the Orinoco.

He would always say that his nickname was given to him by a presenter at Radio Barinas called Luis Eduardo Camejo who thought the piercing cry that he starts his songs with sounded like the mating call of the Carrao, the local name of the jacana (jacana jacana), a small wading bird endemic to the Llanos.

Like many young boys in the countryside of Apure in those days, by the age of seven he was working on a cattle ranch and supporting himself.

He experienced poverty and loneliness and lived the authentic lifestyle of the barefoot cowboys of the Llanos, living hard and playing hard.

As he grew up he soaked up the local Joropo music and would sing along with the Conjuntos Llaneros, the traditional combo of harp, cuatro (small four-stringed guitar) and maracas.

There are many forms of joropo but El Carrao's speciality was telling stories of Llanos life to the accompaniment of a hard driving golpe beat

He could also invent verses on the spot and was a master of contrapunteo, the rap-style competitions between two singers who use their verbal skills and mental agility to try and outdo each other.

His greatest hits include the driving golpe "Furia" ("Fury") and "Florentino y el Diablo" ("Florentino and the Devil") about a cowboy who meets and defeats the devil in a singing contest by inventing the most verses.

The song was based on a poem by the Barinas poet Alberto Arvelo Torrealba and featured Jose Romero Bello as Florentino and El Carrao as the Devil.

Joropo singers are generally divided into two camps: romantico , such as Simon Diaz and the harpist Juan Vicente Torrealba, and recio , such as Luiz Lozado "El Cubiro".

El Carrao de Palmarito was definitely recio, with an extraordinary powerful voice that he never lost even in old age.

He even went across the border to take on the Colombian Llaneros in open singing contests and twice he defeated the best of the best.

In 1998 he received the National Prize for Popular Culture, Venezuela's highest award.

Simon Diaz said of him: "This man was one of the most important singers that the Venezuelan Llanos has ever seen. For a regular singer like myself it was an immense honour to share the stage with him in the concerts that we did together."

"Venezuela cried a lot when the news came out of his death, especially the people of the Llanos," said Diaz. "He was the same age as me, we were both born in 1928. He has gone ahead of me but I'm sure that when my time comes he'll be up there singing with God to welcome me."

By Russell Maddicks

Click here to see John Petrizzelli's 1998 documentary about the life of El Carrao de Palmarito

CD Review: The Rough Guide to Venezuelan Music

2009-04-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

A Rough and Ready Primer of some Classic Venezuelan Tracks
At last a compilation of that is broad enough to give some sense of the incredible diversity of Venezuelan music.

Obviously there are omissions, not least the current crop of bands such as Los Amigos Invisibles, Desorden Publico, Tres Duenos, Babylon Motorhome and all the new young bands making great music now. But with useful sleevenotes and mini-biographies of the artists, this is a good primer.

Given the constraints of a 19-track CD, compiler Dan Rosenberg has done a commendable job of stitching together music from many different Venezuelan genres, most of which are unknown outside the country.

The old-school salsa sound of Oscar D'Leon's first band Dimension Latina will sound familiar to anybody who's heard any of the Fania Allstar artists, such as Willie Colon or Hector Lavoe, although Venezuelan salseros were always closer to the original sounds of Cuba, adding a New York twist to the traditional son montuno with upfront trombones in the style of Eddie Palmieri.

Oscar D'Leon also appears on two tracks as a soloist, unusually, with two tracks by the Dominican band leader Luis Maria "Billo" Frometa, who became a dance hall legend in Venezuela with his Billos Caracas Boys in the 1950s and 1960s.

But for those who are new to Venezuela, the folk music will be the biggest revelation. The African drums of Tambor Urbano and Raices de Chuspa give a flavour of the frenetic Afro-Venezuelan music of the coast, known as tambores, with its call and response vocals and syncopated beats.

Guaco and Maracaibo 15, meanwhile, give two good examples of gaitas, a musical style that originally came from state of Zulia and the city of Maracaibo but has over time become the official sound of Christmas in Venezuela.

Also well served is the joropo, played on harp, a small four-stringed guitar known as a cuatro and maracas.

It is known generically as musica llanera because it comes from the vast open prairies of the Orinoco flood plain, or Llanos region.

Simon Diaz's oft-recorded "Caballo Viejo" ("Old Horse") is a classic of the genre, while tracks by Cheo Hurtado and Anselmo Lopez display the full range of the cuatro and the bandola, similar to the lute.

Creating a CD that covers the whole musical tradition of a country as rich in music as Venezuela is clearly an impossible task, but if you want a flavour of what's on offer, this is not a bad place to start.

Track Listing:
1. Caracas, Caracas - Un Solo Pueblo
2. Madrugada Llanera - Mario Suarez con La Rondalla Venezolana
3. Deshonestidad - Guaco
4. Gavilan - Dimension Latina
5. Ariel - Oscar D'Leon
6. La Paloma - Quinto Criollo
7. Mosaico Tradicional - Tambor Urbano
8. Las Tres Damas - Anselmo Lopez and Saul Vera
9. Malembe - Raices de Chuspa
10. Moliendo Cafe - Hugo Blanco
11. Caballo Viejo - Simon Diaz
12. Viva Venezuela - Un Solo Pueblo
13. Palo Palo - Maracaibo 15
14. Cadetes - Oscar D'Leon
15. Calipso de El Callao - Alberto Naranjo
16. Meneito - Grupo Barlovento
17. Julio Moreno/Linda Mañana - Vasallos del Sol
18. Pajarillo Revuelto - Cheo Hurtado y Bandolas de Venezuela
19. Pajarillo Verde - Soledad Bravo

To find out more about the CD "The Rough Guide to Venezuelan Music" click here:

Expresion Larense: Golpe Tocuyano

2009-04-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

A song in honour of Barquisimeto and El Tocuyo by local group Expresion Larense.

The only expression I know from Lara is "na' guará!", a useful expression that defines the region but defies direct translation.

It can be used in a similar way to Paris Hilton's use of the phrase "Oh my God!", which depending on the context can mean: "Oh my God, that's great" or "Oh my God, that sucks!"

Or it can be used like the phrase "no way!" or "wow!" to indicate disbelief or surprise.

"Na´guará" is so prevalent in Barquisimeto and Lara State that the inhabitants of the region are known as Guaros.

If anybody has a better definition of the indefinable "Na'guará" please leave a comment.

CD Review: Fiesta - Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra

2009-04-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

"Fiesta" (Deutsche Grammophon) is one of those rare CDs that is so good you play it till it wears out - a classical music feast of Latin American compositions that ends with a rip-roaring rendition of Leonard Bernstein's "Mambo" from the musical "West Side Story".

The 190-strong Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela (SBYOV), led by the charismatic conductor Gustavo Dudamel, has electrified the usually staid world of classical music in the last few years, with sold out performances in all the major concert halls of Europe.

An appearance at the 2007 Proms at the Albert Hall in London, when the band came on dressed in Venezuela's national colours of blue, yellow, red and white ended with a 10 minute standing ovation.

The concert was a revelation for classical music fans in the UK and a huge boost for Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, who recorded "Fiesta" as a way of capturing the experience of listening to the orchestra live and give their fans who couldn't get tickets a taste of what it was like to be at the Albert Hall concert.

Fiesta is exactly the right word to describe the eight upbeat works which appear on the album, which all celebrate the vibrant energy of Latin America, the vast geography of the region, the legacy of conquest and some of the many dance rhythms that bring people across the divided continents together.

The best-known track on the CD is undoubtedly "Mambo", US composer Leonard Bernstein's evocation of the Puerto Rican migrant experience in the tenements of mid-1950s Harlem. Classical music fans will also have heard works by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera and Mexico's Silvestre Revuelatas.

But the revelation for most listeners will be the works by the Venezuelans Inocente Carreno, Antonio Estevez, Aldemaro Romero and Evencio Castellanos.

Many of these compositions evoke the folk music of Venezuela's vast seasonally flooded plains, known as Los Llanos, where barefoot cowboys herd cattle past small lakes filled with caymans and piranas, and where white ibis share the water holes with capybaras.

Romero's "Fuga con Pajarillo", for example, interweaves a classical fugue with the galloping rhythms of the "pajarillo" folk dance, while Estevez's "Melodia en el Llano" is slower and more nostalgic.

Dudamel has said of the piece: "It's very impressionistic, influenced by Debussy, slow, with beautiful melodies inside different colours."

The CD comes out at a good time for the SBYOV, who have just begun their five-day residency at the Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre in London. The excitement around the orchestra is close to fever pitch and tickets for all the concerts sold out immediately, even for the rehearsals and the shows by the brass section.

The first reviews of the Royal Festival Hall shows have been gushing:

"Never was an invading army more welcome," said Michael Church, writing in the Independent newspaper.

"Is this the best orchestra in the world? No. But the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra is classical music's hottest ticket, and with good reason," said Erica Jeal who gave the concert five stars in The Guardian.

"... there is a symbiosis here between conductor and ensemble that is quite electric," she concluded.

The youth orchestra's ability to affect social change in extremely deprived areas has not gone unnoticed either.

Gustavo Dudamel, speaking to the BBC, said the aims of the youth orchestra went beyond making magnificent music: "When you have around your life, drugs, crime, the best that you can give to a kid is an instrument. Then they can change their lives."

That philosophy looks set to spread. Projects in both developed and developing nations are currently underway to set up similar youth orchestras based on the incredibly succesful El Sistema model created by Venezuelan economist and philanthropist Jose Antonio Abreu in the 1970s.

Abreu realized that putting classical instruments into the hands of young children from the poorest shantytowns and teaching them to work together in a large orchestra gave them a sense of worth and the opportunity to change their lives.

Listen to "Fiesta" and you can hear that hope for a better future come alive.

Track Listing
Sensemaya (Silvestre Revueltas, Mexico)
Margariteña (Inocente Carreno, Venezuela)
Mediodia en el Llano (Antonio Estevez, Venezuela)
Danzon No. 2 (Arturo Marquez, Mexico)
Fuga con Pajarillo (Aldemaro Romero, Venezuela)
Estancia Suite (Alberto Ginastera, Argentina)
1. Los Trabajadores Agricolas
2. Danza del Trigo
3. Los Peones de Hacienda
4. Danza Final (Malambo)
Santa Cruz de Pacairigua (Evencio Castellanos, Venezuela)
Mambo Symphonic Dance from "West Side Story" (Leonard Bernstein, USA)

Video: Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra performing Mambo at the Albert Hall in 2007

Video: Gustavo Dudamel interviewed at the Proms in 2007

To download tracks from the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra's latest album "Fiesta" click here:

Mermelada Bunch - Comando Borracho

2009-03-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

Another riotous drinking anthem from Maracaibo's tropical pop-rockers Mermelada Bunch, "Comando Borracho" is taken from the band's 2002 album "Pum Pum".

Mermelada means jam or marmalade in Spanish and it's an apt name for a band known for their melting-pot mix of different musical influences and styles.

Singers Pipo Ramirez and Leo Colina lead the vocal assault, with Agustin Espina and Armando Hernandez on keyboards and backing vocals, Luis "Toto" Fernandez on guitar, Edmundo "Kiky" Rincon on bass, David Schelsinger on drums, and Juan Paul Hernandez on percussion.

Together they have carved out a niche as one of Venezuela's most exciting stadium bands, with a rapidly growing fan base in Mexico.

The video was shot in Maracaibo by directors Omar Silva and Juan Toledobajo for Bolivar Producciones.

The song finishes with a message that Venezuelan drinkers are well-acquainted with - and happy to express effusively to any new acquaintances after a few jars - namely the old Venezuelan maxim: "borracho no come dulce".

This translates as "drunks don't eat sweet things" and is based on "scientific" evidence that the liver can't cope with two things at the same time.

Put simply, the argument goes, your poor overworked liver can process the aguardiente fire water or the sticky arequipe toffee, but not both.

That's why real borrachos always opt for the chili dips over the cheesecake when they're drinking.

You heard it here.

Comando Borracho

Comando borracho toma los lunes
Comando borracho toma los martes
Comando borracho toma de dia
Comando borracho

Comando borracho te invita a las fiestas
Comando borracho acaba con las fiestas
Comando borracho vomita la mesa
Comando borracho

Comando borracho se lleva los vasos
Comando borracho se duerme en el carro
Comando borracho busca pelea
Comando borracho

Comando borracho baila a la gorda
Comando borracho baila a la fea
Comando borracho la besa a la fuerza
Comando borracho

Quien dijo que el borracho no es hippy?
El comando borracho es asi
Quien dijo que el borracho no era feliz?
El comando borracho es asi (x2)

Co co comando bo bo borracho
Co co comando bo bo borracho
Co co comando bo bo borracho
Co co comando bo bo borracho

Comando borracho le grita a la novia
Comando borracho le grita a la esposa
Comando borracho le grita a la suegra
Comando borracho

Comando borracho no dice mentira
Comando borracho se orina en la cama
Comando borracho besa al amigo
Comando borracho

Comando borracho te pide dinero
Comando borracho se rie de todo
Comando borracho da serenata
Comando borracho

Comando borracho se cree ultraman
Comando borracho se cree superman
Comando borracho se cree batman
Comando borracho

Quien dijo que el borracho no es hippy?
El comando borracho es asi
Quien dijo que el borracho no era feliz?
El comando borracho es asi (x2)

El alcohol me tiene muy bien
El alcohol me tiene feliz
El mundo parece distinto
Sin mi botella de anis

Simon Diaz - Alma Llanera

2009-03-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

"Alma Llanera" is the country's second national anthem, a song that pays homage to the wide open plains of the Llanos and the importance of "musica llanera" to Venezuela's cultural identity.

Visit Venezuela and you're sure to hear this at the opening or closing of a popular fiesta, on TV or the radio. Countless versions of the song exist and smooth crooners like Julio Iglesias and operatic masters like Placido Domingo have all tapped into its popularity.

Venezuelan pop group Los Amigos Invisibles even tackled it for their last album "Superpop Venezuela".

This version is performed by folk singer and composer "Tio" Simon Diaz (born 8 August, 1928), a legend of traditional Venezuelan music who was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Latin Grammy's in November 2008.

The song has a long history. The music was composed in the form of a "joropo" by Pedro Elias Gutierrez, a band leader from La Guaira, for a "zarzuela" of the same name performed on 19 September, 1914, at the Teatro Caracas.

"Zarzuela" was the name for comic folk operas that became popular in 17th century Spain and are named after Philip IV's Zarzuela Palace.

The lyrics of the song, which were penned by the writer Rafael Bolivar Coronado, stay true to the "zarzuela" tradition by encapsulating the wild beauty of the rugged Llanos while the music draws on the folk style of "joropo", the music of the Llanos.

As you can see from the lyrics (below) Bolivar Coronado created an idealized vision of thundering rivers, white ibises, sunshine and roses and people who love, cry, sing and dream "with carnations of passion".

Not surprisingly, "Alma Llanera" became an instant hit and President Juan Vicente Gomez was so pleased with the tune that he paid for Bolivar Coronado to visit Spain on a scholarship from which he never returned.

So, let's all sing along:

Yo naci en esta ribera del Arauca vibrador
Soy hermano de la espuma
De las garzas de las rosas
Soy hermano de la espuma
De las garzas de las rosas
Y del sol (del sol) y del sol.

Me arrullo la viva diana de la brisa en el palmar
Y por eso tengo el alma
Como el alma primorosa
Y por eso tengo el alma
Como el alma primorosa
De cristal de cristal.

Amo, lloro, canto, sueño
Con claveles de pasion
Con claveles de pasion.
Para aunar las rubias crines
Para aunar las rubias crines
Del potro que monto yo.
Yo naci en esta ribera
Del Arauca vibrador
Soy hermano de la espuma
De las garzas de las rosas y del sol.

Report: Simon Diaz honoured at Latin Grammy Awards

Click here for a video of Simon Diaz singing "Caballo Viejo"

Click here for a video of "Angustia" by Simon Diaz remixed by Babylon Motorhome

Click here for a video of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra playing "Alma LLanera" at the BBC Proms in London's Albert Hall in 2007

Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

2009-02-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Los Amigos Invisibles win their first Latin Grammy for the album "Commercial"

The latest song from Los Amigos Invisibles, "Mentiras" ("Lies") has been number one in Venezuela for weeks now.

The excellent video is directed by William Zitser, who also directed the videos for "Yo Soy Asi" and "Las Gorditas de Mario".

Set in Nublu, one of guitarist Jose Luis Pardo's favourite nightspots in New York City, it features assorted mamis and friends of the band grooving to the new tune while Willy chases lead singer Julio Briceno around the club.

The song comes from the band's long-awaited new album "Comercial" which will be out later in the year on Gozadera Records.

"Comercial" follows their 2-CD greatest hits album and DVD "Una Noche Tan Linda Como Esta" recorded live at the band's 15th anniversary gig at the Aula Magna in Caracas. A must have for fans.

So let's all sing along to the funky latin beat...

Debes estar confundida
O habia un tipo igualito a mi

Te cuentan que me vieron paseando en la ciudad
Con una ropa fina y con cara de galan
Mirando a todas las chicas pasar frente a mi
Pero eso es imposible Yo nunca estuve alli

Cuando no estas conmigo yo me porto bien
Me quedo encerrado viendo la TV
No salgo ni a la esquina ni hablo con mi vecina
Aunque no te lo niego sigue estando divina

Esas son puras mentiras
Esa noche yo no andaba alli
Debes estar confundida
O habia un tipo igualito a mi (x2)

Me dices que me viste en una pagina web
Con dos jevas al lado y una birra tambien
Que estaba muy contento y como distraido
Te juro yo a esa hora estaba mas que dormido

No se de que me hablas yo no se que pasa
Tu siempre por ahi Y yo tranquilo en mi casa
Leyendome unos libros pa poder comprender
Como debo tratarte y entenderte mujer

Esas son puras mentiras...
Esa noche yo no andaba alli
Debes estar confundida
O habia un tipo igualito a mi

Igualito a mi...

Mentira mentira mentira mentira mentira mentira mentira mira mira mira

Esas son puras mentiras...
Esa noche yo no andaba alli
Debes estar confundida
O habia un tipo igualito a mi (x2)

To download Los Amigos Invisibles MP3 tracks click here:

To buy the new CD "Commercial" click here:

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

CD Review: Venezuelan Zinga Son Vol 1 - Amigos Invisibles

CD Review: Arepa 3000 - Los Amigos Invisibles

Musica Llanera: Conjunto Hato Cedral - Pajarillo

2009-02-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

The Llanero cowboys and the rest of the staff at the isolated cattle ranch of Hato Cedral in Apure State - easily the best place to see wildlife in all of Venezuela - come together in the evenings to play musica llanera for their guests.

For the Venezuelan cowboys it's a chance to get out the harp and sing a joropo or two for the birdwatchers and assorted nature nuts who come to the ranch to get up close and personal with piranhas, anacondas, alligators and the Zen-like chiguires - the biggest rodents on the planet.

There is no better place to hear musica llanera than on a working cattle ranch, amid the whoops and whistles of the myriad birds that inhabit the rivers and partially-flooded plains and the thunder of galloping horses as cowboys round up hardy Zebu cows.

Joropo is a fast-galloping form of musica llanera played on harp, the small four-stringed cuatro guitar and maracas.

Conjunto Hato Cedral is just a loose name for these part-time musicians, who will swap instruments during the course of the evening, or entreat a compañero to come forward and sing a favourite song.

The guy with the cowboy hat playing maracas is none other than my old mate Victor, the best birding guide at Hato Cedral and a real character.

It was Victor who introduced me to my first anaconda by draping it around my neck.

To contact Hato El Cedral visit their website: http://www.elcedral.com

Los Telecaster - Dandy Boy

2009-02-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

Los Telecaster are the new kids on the Venezuelan indie block, taking it right back to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones with their electric debut single "Dandy Boy", a homage to that eternal dandy David Bowie.

Front man and singer Alejandro "Ringomes" Gomez is joined on the track by Carlos Jose on bass guitar, Simon Mujica on drums, and Carlitos Del Valle and Jonathon "Kuamasi" on guitars.

Formed in 2003, the band made a splash recently in Mexico, where they have been hailed as the next big thing by MySpaceMexico.

"Los Telecaster", the band's eponymous CD, has just come out on the Venezuelan indie label Fan Zinatra and is available from Esperanto record stores in Caracas.

Melding surf guitar and rockabilly with Mersey Beat "oohs and aahs" the band follows in the footsteps of other Venezuelan indie bands such as Los Mentas, Los Javelin and, some would say, the sixties sound of Los Impala.

The video was shot by Luber Mujica on the stage of the Municipal Theater of Caracas, a historic cultural monument built in 1876. No footwear was harmed during the making of this video.

For a Free Download of Los Telecaster's debut album click here

Video: Los Telecaster - Todo Muerto

Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero plays at Obama inauguration

2009-01-20T07:43:00.000-08:00

One of the few classical music stars asked to play at US President Barack Obama's historic inauguration on Tuesday, 20 January, was Venezuelan piano virtuoso Gabriela Montero.

Following a gutsy gospel-style reworking of "My Country Tis of Thee" by Aretha Franklin, Montero joined the Chinese-born cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the violinist Itzhak Perlman and African-American clarinetist Anthony McGill to perform "air and Simple Gifts" a new work composed for Obama's inauguration by John Williams.

Williams is recognized as one of the great Hollywood composers and has won Oscars for his work on movies such as Star Wars, Superman and Jurassic Park, but this was a strange piece of music really.

Starting off quite sombrely, it rose in power towards the middle - referencing the hymn "Lord of the Dance" - but never had the bite or originality of William's work on "Jaws" or "E.T.". Perhaps it would have played better in a concert hall.

"I'm very excited to be part of this great day," Montero told the Associated Press in an interview before the event, adding: "It's going to be a great moment for the entire world."

Montero is known to her fans as "La Divina del Piano" for her celebrated technical skills and her talent for improvisation.

A child prodigy who was performing solo on the piano by the age of five, Montero played with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra when she was eight and went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Her latest album "Baroque" features improvisations on famous Baroque themes including "Handel's Hallelujah Chorus" and Vivaldi's "Winter" and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards - "Best Classical Crossover" and "Best Production".

For more about Gabriela Montero's album "Baroque" click here:

The video clip below shows Gabriela playing a piece called "Joropo" by Venezuelan composer Moises Moleiro at the Teresa Carreño theatre in Caracas on 14 November 2003.

Salsa: Oscar D'Leon y Wladimir - Que Cosa Tan Linda

2009-01-13T01:28:00.000-08:00

The video's a bit wobbly but it's worth it to see Venezuela's most dynamic salsa duo Oscar D'Leon and Wladimir Lozano perform together back in the days of the Salsa Mayor.

I'll write some more about the song and the video but in the meantime here's a shout out to a great friend who still insists - now in the 21st century - that growing an Oscar D'Leon moustache is the ultimate in male grooming.

This is for Carlos, Kenny and the new bebe Isabel Cristina. Felicitaciones panitas!!! Que alegria!!!

Salsa: Ray Perez y Los Dementes - Gallo Gallina

2009-01-08T11:38:00.000-08:00

They might look a bit loco but Venezuelan Salsa legend Ramon "Ray" Perez (keyboards) and his band of Dementes know how to cook up a swinging tune and Manny Bolaños, the cat with the ´fro, does an admirable job on the vocals.

Born in Barcelona in Anzoategui State in 1937, Ray Perez has had a number of bands from his first group Trio Cristal through to Ray Perez y Su Charanga, Los Calvos, Grupo Casabe, Los Kenya and of course Los Dementes, the band he brought from Maracaibo to Caracas in 1965. Ray is still going strong today.

Musica Llanera: Fabiana Ochoa - Carrao Carrao

2009-01-02T11:33:00.000-08:00

Carrao, Carrao (Words and Music: Jose "Cheo" Ramirez)

En la plena oscuridad
en la noche de mi llano
canta un carrao

yo no sé por qué será
pero lo noté cantando
más lamentando

Sería que él adivinó
que mi amor con otro amor
se fue muy lejos

Si las cosas son así
carraíto hazme un favor
sé que eres bueno

Carrao, carrao, convida a tu
compañero
el gallito lagunero
que la salgan a buscar
díganle que ya no aguanto
entre el dolor y el llanto
conmigo van a acabar
díganle que no hay rencor
que le perdono su error
que regrese a mi lugar (x2)

Carrao síguele la huella
que mi llano taciturno
se enlutará

no brillarán las estrellas
ni la luna en plenilunio
no alumbrará

aunque tengo la esperanza
es la última que muere
del que regrese

carrao, sigue sus andanzas
pregúntales si me quiere o me
aborrece

Carrao, carrao, convida a tu
compañero
el gallito lagunero
que la salgan a buscar
díganle que ya no aguanto
entre el dolor y el llanto
conmigo van a acabar
díganle que no hay rencor
que le perdono su error
que regrese a mi lugar (x2)

Click here for a video of Fabiana Ochoa singing "La Vecina"

Nestor Zavarce: Faltan Cinco Pa' Las Doce

2008-12-31T08:37:00.000-08:00

The ultimate New Year tearjerker, Nestor Zavarce's nostalgic sixties song "Faltan Cinco Pa Las Doce" ("Five Minutes to Twelve") has become a hugely popular Latin American classic, with salsa versions played in Puerto Rico, cumbia and vallenato versions in Colombia and even a merengue version in the Dominican Republic.

In Venezuela, the song is as much a New Year tradition as the 12 grapes that are eaten at the stroke of midnight.

Zavarce was a popular big screen and soap opera actor who got his big break as a child star in "La Balandra Isabel Llego Esta Tarde", a joint Argentine-Venezuelan production that won the award for best photography at the the 1950 Cannes Film Festival.

The song was very nearly never recorded. Zavarce had had a major Latin American hit with the song "El Pajaro Chogüi", selling over a million records, and his record company wanted a Christmas album to follow it called 'El Gallo Pelón'.

Zavarce, who retired from show business in 1974 and from public life in 1984, said in a rare interview that the songwriter Oswaldo Oropeza asked him to include 'Faltan Cinco Pa´ Las Doce' on the disc to fill up space.

"We recorded it and to our surprise it was as big a hit as 'El Pájaro Chogüi except that copies of this song carried on selling and keep on selling. Even in Japan they want it," he said.

By the time this song comes on tonight I hope to be full of good cheer, good beer, two or three glasses of ponche crema and a few hallacas.

Faltan cinco pa’ las doce
Las campanas de la iglesia están sonando
anunciando que el año viejo se va.
La alegría del año nuevo viene ya
los abrazos se confunden sin cesar. (x2)

Faltan cinco pa’ las doce
el año va a terminar
me voy corriendo a mi casa
a abrazar a mi mamá. (x2)

Me perdonan que me vaya de la fiesta
pero hay algo que jamás podré dejar.
Una linda viejecita que me espera,
en las noches de una eterna navidad.

Faltan cinco pa’ las doce
el año va a terminar
me voy corriendo a mi casa
a abrazar a mi mamá. (x2)

Las campanas de la iglesia están sonando
anunciando que el año viejo se va.
La alegría del año nuevo viene ya
los abrazos se confunden sin cesar. (x2)

Now eat those grapes! Feliz Año Nuevo !!!

Gaitas: Astolfo Romero - Una Florecita

2008-12-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

I would like to Wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Feliz Navidad, and what better way to celebrate than with gaitas, the traditional music of Zulia State.
In Venezuela, Christmas isn't Christmas without gaitas and Astolfo Romero was one of the great voices of the genre.
"El Parroqiano", as he was known, was born on 8 February 1950 in the neighbourhood of El Empedrado in Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia State.
Part of Santa Lucia, El Empedrao is known for its colourfully-painted colonial houses.
Astolfo started singing professionally with the children's group Los Invasores and graduated to top groups such as Los Cardenales del Exito, the Gaiteras de Pillopo and Maragaita, which he founded and directed.
Sadly, in May 2000 Astolfo died of a heart attack, robbing Venezuela of one of its great gaiteros, but not before he founded the University of Gaita in 1980.
Florecita was one his many hit compositions.

More Gaitas: Maracaibo 15 - La Negra del Tamunangue

Salsa: Orquesta Magia Caribena - El Jaleo

2008-12-18T09:06:00.000-08:00

Another fantastic track from the Orquesta Magia Caribena's latest album "Llego La Salsa, Parte II" - a homage to Venezuelan salsa pioneer Federico Betancourt and his Combo Latino.

"El Jaleo" was written in the 1940s by the Cuban composer Nico Saquito, "El Guarachero De Oriente", who penned the famous track "Al Vaiven de Mi Carreta".

Sung by Dimas Pedroza, one of Venezuela's finest soneros, "El Jaleo" was a big hit for the Combo in the late '60s.

Forty years later, Pedroza takes up the microphone to show he still has the lungs to do the track justice.

The video features photos of Federico and his Combo back in the glory days of the band.

Click here for a video of Orquesta Magia Caribena playing "Federico Boogaloo"

Click here for a video of Orquesta Magia Caribena playing "Cocolia" with Jimmy Bosch

Salsa: Orquesta Magia Caribena - Cocolia

2008-10-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

It's been forty years since Venezuelan band leader and arranger Federico Betancourt popularized the term salsa as an umbrella term for all the Afro-Cuban rhythms from son to guaguanco on his 1967 album "Llego La Salsa".

So what better tribute to a groundbreaking album than reworking some of its best tracks with an all-star cast of singers and musicians led by Federico's son, the timbal player and band leader Federico Jr.

With Venezuelan soneros Carlin Rodriguez and Dimas Pedroza on vocals and Federico senior on guiro, the old-timers sound as fresh as they did back in the days of the Combo Latino.

Back in 1967, Federico Betancourt and his Combo Latino gave Venezuelan dancers a taste of Nuyorican salsa sounds by incorporating trumpets and trombones in the style of Eddie Palmieri's band La Perfecta.

In 2007, in recognition of Federico Betancourt's place in the pantheon of salsa legends, Puerto Rican trombone player Jimmy Bosch - the current star of the old-school salsa dura revival - agreed to play on the track "Cocolia".

It doesn't get much better than this.

A note to salsa dancers: "Llego La Salsa: Parte II" is available to order online from descarga.com

Orquesta Magia Caribena - Llego La Salsa, Parte II (De Hijo a Padre)

Track listing:
1. Cocolia
2. Señor Gallo
3. El Jaleo
4. Pao Pao
5. Dolores
6. Mi Querida Bomba
7. La Malas Lenguas
8. Federico Boogaloo
9. No Le Digan
10. La Cumbia Cucuta

Musicians:
Federico Jr. - Musical director, arrangements, timbales solo on "Cocolia"
Federico Bentancourt - Güiro on "Pao Pao"
Julio Antillano - Bass
Jesus "Menudo" Moreno - Piano
Luisito Quintero - Congas, timbal and bell
Gustavo Aranguren - Trumpet
Hector Velasquez - Trombone
Yorman "Caballo" Mendez - Conga, timbal en "Pao Pao"

Guest solos:
Jimmy Bosch - Trombone in "Cocolia" and "Las Malas Lenguas"
Enrique "Culebra" Iriarte - Piano on "Pao Pao"
Janet Trejo - Violin on "Federico Boogaloo" and "Mi Querida Bomba"
Kenny Arrieta - Accordion on "La Cumbia de Cucuta"
Prisco Oropeza - Trumpet on "Mi Querida Bomba"
Johan Munoz - Trombone on "Federico Boogaloo", "La Cumbia de Cucuta", "Señor Gallo" and "El Jaleo"

Vocals:
Orlando Jose "Watussi" Castillo - "Señor Gallo"
Carlin Rodriguez - "Pao Pao"
Angel Flores - "Mi Querida Bomba"
Edgar Dolor - "Dolores"
Dimas Pedroza - "Cocolia", "El Jaleo" and "No Le Digan"
Jorge Mendoza - "La Cumbia de Cucuta" and "Las Malas Lenguas"

By Russell Maddicks

Click here for a video of Orquesta Magia Caribena playing "Federico Boogaloo".

Click here for a video of Orquesta Magia Caribena playing "El Jaleo" from their new album "Llego La Salsa, Parte II".

Simon Diaz honoured at Latin Grammy Awards

2008-10-02T02:45:00.000-07:00

Venezuela's best-loved folk singer Simon Diaz is finally being recognized by the Latin Grammy organizers for his contribution to Latin music.

The composer of "Caballo Viejo" - a massive international hit for the Gipsy Kings as "Bamboleo" - will pick up a Lifetime Achievement Award at a special ceremony on 12 November, the day before the Ninth Latin Grammy show at the Hobby Centre in Houston, Texas.

The award represents a major milestone in the long and illustrious career of Diaz, who celebrated his 80th birthday on 8 August this year.

The announcement on 30 September came after a campaign to "bring Simon Diaz to the 2009 Grammy" by a group called "Venezuelans in Hollywood", supported by actors such as "The Mummy" actress Patricia Velasquez, and musicians such as Oscar D'Leon, Los Amigos Invisibles, Ricardo Montaner, Jose Luis Rodriguez ("El Puma") and the Gypsy Kings.

A Facebook group supporting the campaign currently has 51,000 members.

Also collecting awards will be New York salsa legend Larry Harlow, from the Fania Allstars, and the Cuban composer and guitarist Juanito Marquez.

Click here for a video of "Caballo Viejo"

Click here for a video of "Angustia" by Simon Diaz remixed by Babylon Motorhome

Dame Pa Matala - Chichiriviche

2008-09-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

A group of youngsters from San Felipe in Yaracuy State, Dame Pa Matala, have had quite a success with their anti-reggaeton song "F@@@@ing Reggaeton".

This song, "Chichiriviche", is named after the beach town that is best-known as a starting point for trips to the beautiful islands of the Morrocoy National Park.

The flute solos and harmonies give the song a lilting tropical swing and the band seem as happy busking on the beach as they do playing stadiums.

Los Javelin - Psycho Silbon

2008-08-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

With a few riffs borrowed from The Clash's "Brand New Cadillac", Los Javelin go surf crazy in Caracas in this video to their totally awesome track "Psycho Silbon," named after Venezuela's spookiest bogeyman El Silbon.

Calling their sound Surfabilly 'n Roll, Los Javelin take the sixties sound of The Lively Ones, Dick Dale, and Surfaris and bring it up to date for Venezuela's latest crop of sun-kissed wave-riders.

Think of The Trashmen - whose spectacular Surfing Bird was covered by Psychobilly pioneers The Cramps - with some hot and heavy brass thrown in to beef up the sound.

Cheekily, they even have a track named after self-confessed surf-guitar fan Quentin Tarantino.

If he doesn't include it in his next flick I'll eat my board, sex wax and all.

Los Javelin are Harold Quevedo, alias "Dr Staccato" (guitar), Ivan Gozon, alias "Electro Loco" (guitar), Joan La Riva, alias "Barracuda" (bass guitar) and Richard Blanco from Los Mentas, alias "Chicha" (drums). The brass comes courtesy of Hector Bastardo, alias "Mr Suave" on sax and El Chile Chipotle and Tequila Sifontes on trumpets.

"Psycho Silbon" comes from the band's first CD "Surfabilly & Roll" on Radio Pirata Records.

The video was shot at the Plaza de Los Museos in Bellas Artes, in front of the Museo de Ciencias.

Los Paranoias - Algo

2008-08-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

A sweet little ditty by Caracas indie band Los Paranoias, Venezuela's answer to Britpop.

The band are Luis Iran (vocals, guitar), Carlos da Palma (bass and backup vocals) Yunior Lobo (drums) and Ivan Gozon (guitar).

"Algo" comes from their 2006 album "Hey! Donde Estan Los Paranoias?" and this excellent video clip - directed by Luber Mujica for Guayoyo Motion Graphics - has been on heavy rotation on MTV Latino since June.

Luber and his team must have got up early to shoot these deserted street scenes outside the Congress building, El Capitolio, and around the Teresa Carreno theatre complex in Caracas.

The result is a beautiful series of snapshots of the capital without the crush of humanity and cars that clog its main arteries during the day.

Los 007 - El Ultimo Beso

2008-08-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

Taking Wayne Cochran's tragic song of lost love "Last Kiss", Los OO7 had a massive hit in the early sixties with their Spanish-language version "El Ultimo Beso", which was also covered by Peruvian band Los Doltons and the soloist Leopoldo Sanchez Labastida, better known as Polo.

Formed in 1966, Los 007 was made up of Jorge Chapellin (lead vocals), Jose Galpasoro (lead guitar and vocals), Javier Atance (bass and vocals), and Manolo Alvarez (drums).

Dudamel back at the Proms

2008-08-11T14:45:00.000-07:00

Mop-top Venezuelan super-conductor Gustavo Dudamel will be bringing some of his musical magic to the BBC Proms again this year, although sadly not with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, which set the place alight in 2007, leaving to standing ovations and gushing press reviews.

This year, Dudamel will be fronting Sweden's Gothenberg Symphony Orchestra.

His three-date tour of the UK includes the Edinburgh Festival on 12 August, the BBC Proms at the Albert Hall on 13 August and the Snape Maltings Concert Hall on 14 August.

Only 27 years old, Dudamel is flying high. Taking up the violin at the age of ten, he's a product of "El Sistema", the National Network of Youth and Children Orchestras that was set up in the 1970s by Venezuelan economist, music lover and teacher Jose Antonio Abreu.

Showing early promise at conducting, by the age of 18 Dudamel was the musical director of the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, the jewel in El Sistema's crown.

Following critically-acclaimed guest appearances with several international orchestras, last year he was named the principal conductor of Sweden's Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

Not bad for a boy from Barquisimeto, in Lara State.

In July this year, his fans were rewarded with "Fiesta" (Deutsche Grammophon), an album of South American compositions played by the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra that brims over with the same passion and joy that wowed audiences at the BBC Proms.

Next year, in his biggest step yet, he will take over as the musical director of the Los Angeles Philarmonic Orchestra.

Asked recently by the Telegraph's Geoffrey Norris how he would cope with running three major orchestras at the same time, Dudamel said: "People say that having three orchestras is a crazy life, but its better because you have three families."

Despite his growing fame in the classical music world, he also said he was determined to maintain his connections with Venezuela:

"Venezuela is very important, not just because it's a place I go to conduct but because my family is there - my wife and my parents and my musical family. I love working not only with the Bolivars but also with the other children's orchestras, something that Maestro Abreu put in our blood."

The video shows the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra at the BBC Proms playing Alma LLanera, Venezuela's second national anthem, a song composed by Pedro Elias Gutierrez that was first performed in Caracas in 1914.

Video: Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra performing Mambo at the Albert Hall in 2007

Video: Gustavo Dudamel interviewed at the Proms in 2007

CD review: "Fiesta" Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela

To download tracks from the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra's latest album "Fiesta" click here:

Fauna Crepuscular - Birra

2008-08-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Venezuela is a nation of beer drinkers. At the beach, at home, after work in pubs, clubs and restaurants, wherever you go you'll find people chugging ice cold brewskis to keep the tropical heat at bay.

The Irish of the Americas, Venezuelans drink more of the amber nectar per head than any other South Americans.

According to the 2008 edition of the Economist magazine's "Pocket World in Figures" the top beer drinkers in the world in litres per person per year are:
1. Czech Republic, 81.9 litres
2. Venezuela, 76.7 litres
3. Australia, 69.3 litres
4. Germany, 67.9 litres
5. Austria, 66.2 litres
6. Finland, 65.4 litres
7. England, 62.6 litres
8. USA, 62.5 litres
9. Slovakia, 62.4 litres
10. Denmark, 60.8 litres

This ska-tastic ode to Venezuela's favourite leisure pursuit by Caracas-based band Fauna Crepuscular has become something of a summer anthem this year.

It's got all the ingredients for a top hit: The words couldn't be simpler, the message couldn't be more profound, and the beat couldn't be any bouncier.

So let's all sing along.

Birra. Yo lo que quiero es una birra.
Yo lo que quiero es tomar,
Sin parar!

Beer. I want a beer.
I want to drink,
Without stopping!

Who said the art of poetry is dead?

Russell Maddicks

Kotebel: Prog Rock from Beyond the Universe

2008-07-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

Kotebel, the pet project of Venezuelan keyboard player and composer Carlos Plaza, will be coming to London on 23 August for a one-off show at The Peel, Norbiton's famous "Prog Rock" pub.

The band's neo-Baroque sound has been likened to The Enid, Camel and Gentle Giant, so expect to hear some celestial art rock with lots of jazzy noodling and operatic vocals.

Kotebel is often hailed as Spain's spaciest symphonic rock outfit, but Plaza, who trained in Venezuela as a classical pianist, also taps into his Venezuelan roots by incorporating traditional instruments such as tambores and cuatro.

Carlos lists his influences as everything from Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull to Bartok and Beethoven and describes the band's sound as "elaborate music that appeals to the mind and the spirit," leading to "a state of transcendence."

Kotebel began as an album project in Madrid in 1999. Since then it has grown into a full band with Carlos Acosta on flute and cuatro, Carolina Prieto on vocals, Cesar Garcia Forero on guitar, Jaime Pascual on bass and Carlos Franco on drums and percussion. Plaza's daughter Adriana, also an accomplished classical pianist, joins the band on second keyboard.

The band will be promoting their latest album "Omphalos", which one critic hailed as "a revelation for every genuine progressive rock fan". Now you know.

Gig Details:
Band: Kotebel
Venue: The Peel - 160 Cambridge Rd, Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey, KT1 3HH
Tel: 020 8546 3516
Nearest tube: Norbiton (then 131 bus)
Doors open: 7:30 p.m.
Admission: £10.
(Experience of travelling to other galaxies in your mind while twinkly space dust swirls around the room: Priceless.)

Omphalos

Hip Hop: 3 Dueños - Cyrano (La Mala Vida)

2008-04-17T12:20:00.001-07:00

This is the theme tune of Venezuelan director Alberto Arvelo's movie "Cyrano Fernandez", a contemporary take on the classic tale Cyrano de Bergerac set in the barrios of Caracas.
Edgar Ramirez, who stars in the title role, is perhaps Venezuela's most successful screen export, acting opposite Keira Knightly in "Domino" and Matt Damon in "The Bourne Ultimatum".
Instead of a big nose, this Cyrano has a nasty scar across his face and wields a pistol rather than a duelling sword, but he's as unlucky in love as his French predecessor.
"La Mala Vida" is a banging track by Tres Duenos, the latest collaboration between DJ Trece, Budu and Niggah, formerly operating under the monicker Vagos Y Maleantes.

CD Review: Venezuelan Zinga Son Vol 1 - Amigos Invisibles

2008-02-21T12:10:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Los Amigos Invisibles win their first Latin Grammy for the album "Commercial"

Venezuelan party poppers cook up some Saturday night dance fever
Growing up in the Caribbean, in a country awash with merengue and salsa, Los Amigos Invisibles swam against the tide and immersed themselves in the British acid-jazz scene and US rare grooves. The result was a string of irreverent party tracks that shot them to the top of the Latin American charts.

It also got them noticed by David Byrne's Luaka Bop label, which put out their second release "The New Sound of the Venezuelan Gozadera" and introduced them to a global audience.

On their fourth album, "The Venezuelan Zinga Son Vol. 1", the band continues to buck prevailing trends with a retro-feast of disco, lounge, bossa and 70s-style salsa.

Just as dance music cedes its crown to hip hop and guitar bands, the group have hooked up with New York house legends Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez and Lil’ Louie Vega, better known as Masters at Work (MAW), to help them recreate an underground 80s dance sound.

The result is a slow burning album which will impress newcomers with its smooth production values, but which keeps faithful fans waiting for classic "amigos" moments.

The showpiece of the MAW collaboration is "Ease Your Mind", a remake of rare disco classic by Touchdown from 1982, which shows off the skills of keyboardist Armando Figueredo. Listen out for the percussion breaks by Venezuelan timbables-player Luisito Quintero, who has worked closely with La India and Eddie Palmieri and recently put out his own album with Louie Vega: "Percussion Maddness".

The real fun begins with "Calne" (literally, "Meat") and "Esto es Lo Que hay" ("That's All There Is"), two stand-up-and-stomp, salsa-tinged tracks that benefit from the trombone of Jimmy Bosch and Julio Briceno's cheeky vocals.

But the guaranteed party warmers have to be "Majunche", which sounds like a remix of a track from their first album, and the irrepressible "Superfucker".

If this is all there is, we're gonna have a funking good time.

Track Listing:
1. Rico Pa' Goza'
2. Comodon Johnson
3. Una Disco Llena
4. Venezuelan Zingason
5. Playa Azul
6. Ease Your Mind
7. Isyormain
8. Gerundio
9. Ojos Cerrando
10. Esto Es Lo Que Hay
11. Majunche
12. Mambo Chimbo
13. Diablo
14. Calne
15. Superfucker
16. Bruja
17. Las Gorditas De Mario

To download Los Amigos Invisibles MP3 tracks click here:

To buy the CD "The Venezuelan Zinga Son, Vol. 1" click here:

To buy the new CD "Commercial" click here:

More videos of Los Amigos Invisibles:

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

CD Review: Arepa 3000 - Los Amigos Invisibles

Luisito Quintero - Percussion Maddness

2008-02-16T10:35:00.001-08:00

Li'l Louie Vega introduces Luisito Quintero's 2006 album Percussion Maddness on this video that features tracks from the album and clips of some of the stars who helped out.

How cute is Luisito playing timbales at the age of five?

And how cool is Louie Vega?

CD Review: Percussion Maddness - Luisito Quintero

To buy the album click here:

CD Review - Percussion Maddness - Luisito Quintero

2008-02-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

Venezuelan percussionist Luisito Quintero might not be a household name, but in the small world of New York's Latin music fraternity he's regarded as one of the hottest timbaleros in town.

After starting out in the Symphonic Orchestra of Venezuela and a stint with salsa singer La India, Quintero learnt the finer points of Afro-Cuban drumming by playing alongside a string of Latin music legends, including Oscar D'Leon and Eddie Palmieri.

But while Quintero pays homage to his mentors on some banging tracks dedicated to the late Tito Puente and Ray Barreto, the CD as a whole carries the stamp of house DJ and producer "Li'l" Louie Vega, one half of New York duo Masters at Work.

The deep-house, acid jazz and silky bossa grooves are very much in the vein of Louie Vega's albums Nuyorican Soul and Elements of Life, both of which Quintero played on.

Vega is sometimes accused of over-producing tracks to the point of emasculation and the breathy vocal on "Our Love" by Cape Verdian singer Anane - Lil' Louie's latest squeeze - is so smooth it comes close to muzak.

But lightweight? I don't think so. A Fela Kuti number with Cameroonian singer-guitarist Francis Mbappe hits all the right Afrobeat buttons and a faithful reproduction of Ray Barreto's seminal track "Acid" is a fitting tribute.

Overall, the sheer quality of the guest turns by pianist Hilton Ruiz, flautist Nestor Torres and Venezuelan guitarist Aquiles Baez make this a treat for music fans seeking more than the typical salsa descargas on offer from many Latin combos at the moment.

Track listing:
1. Percussion Maddness
2. Tumbao
3. M'Bongi
4. Gbagada, Gbagada, Gbogodo, Gbogodo (feat. Francis Mbappe)
5. Aquilas Coisas Todas
6. Our Love (feat. Anane)
7. Quintero's Jam (feat. Hilton Ruiz)
8. EOL Intro (Clap Your Hands)
9. Acid
10. Four Beat Mambo
11. Son Montuno
12. Oshagriña (feat. Milton Cardona and The Aranla Chorus)
13. Love Remains The Same

To buy the album click here:

Video: Percussion Maddness - Luisito Quintero

Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra founder wins prize

2008-02-14T09:53:00.001-08:00

By Russell Maddicks

Venezuelan pianist, organist, composer and musical conductor Jose Antonio Abreu has won Canada's prestigious Glenn Gould Prize.

The prize, which honours the memory of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, is awarded every three years to someone who has made an exceptional contribution to the arts and entertainment.

The winner receives a cheque for $50,000 and gets to select a young musician to receive a $10,000 "protege prize". The announcement was made on 14 February.

Abreu pioneered the musical teaching system in Venezuela known as "El Sistema", which offers free music lessons and instruments to poor children.

The scheme began in 1975, with the belief that music could act as a force for social cohesion in a country with such a wide gap between rich and poor.

Abreu gradually extended it to create Venezuela's Youth And Children's Orchestra Network and there are now more than 200 youth orchestras in Venezuela, including the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, which he founded.

Gustavo Dudamel, one of the most talented young conductors in the world today and himself a product of the sistema, discussed Maestro Abreu's continuing importance in an interview with the BBC after the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra's show stopping performance at the Proms in 2007.

Dudamel is currently working with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, one of America's top orchestras.

Video: Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra performing at the Albert Hall in 2007

CD review: "Fiesta" Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela

To download tracks from the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra's latest album "Fiesta" click here:

Babylon Motorhome: ComoCumbia

2008-02-07T14:20:00.001-08:00

The very excellent Venezuelan collective known as Babylon Motorhome have taken Colombian cumbia, electronica, drum and bass and some hot ska brass and made it all dubtastically nice and funky in their latest project. The group, which combines music with cutting-edge graphic design and audiovisuals, have created several versions of the track, available on an album of the same name on Pilla Records. The album cover features a "pabellon criollo", Venezuela's national dish, a plate of black beans, fried plantains, rice and shredded beef. Tasty.

ComoCumbia tracklist:
1. RadioEdit, Feat. MC Cotufa (BMH-Aldo)
2. Bucare Dub (Ortega&Cassette)
3. Drum&bass Mix (Emmerson+Turtled)
4. ILoveMyMotorhome Mix (Jimmy Flamante)
5. Cumbia Nuclear Mix (Club Nuclear)
6. Perro Campeón Mix (Los Domingues)
7. Buenas Tardes Hiphop Mix (BMH)
8. Cariaquito Hiphop Mix (BMH)
9. Raíces Mix (BMH)

Video: Babylon Motorhome remix Simon Diaz - "Angustia"

CD Review: Arepa 3000 - Los Amigos Invisibles

2008-02-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Los Amigos Invisibles win their first Latin Grammy for new album "Commercial"

Los Amigos Invisibles - Arepa 3000: A Venezuelan Journey Into Space

South American Summer sounds don't come any fresher, funkier or funnier than this, the second album from Los Amigos Invisibles. The Invisible Friends started life playing pool parties for their pals and quickly learnt how to blend the sounds of early Santana, the Fania Allstars and 70s disco into an irresistible dance-floor phenomenon.
Their shows became famous for sexed-up songs, Latin-lover dance moves and sing-along choruses. By the time ex-Talking Heads David Byrne discovered them they had mastered the perfect pop hook and were applying it to a funked up mix of boogaloo, merengue and acid jazz that recognized no limits.
As they sing on Amor: "Love in any language will always mean the same".

Track listing
1. Intro
2. Arepa 3000
3. La Vecina
4. Qué Rico
5. Cuchi Cuchi
6. Si Estuvieras Aquí
7. Masturbation Session
8. Mami Te Extraño
9. Mujer Policía
10. No Le Metas Mano
11. Amor
12. Pipí
13. El Barro
14. Domingo Echao
15. Piazo E' Perra
16. El Baile Del Sobón
17. Fonnovo
18. Caliente
19. Llegaste Tarde

To download Los Amigos Invisibles MP3 tracks click here:

To buy the CD "The Venezuelan Zinga Son, Vol. 1" click here:

To buy the new CD "Commercial" click here:

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

CD Review: Venezuelan Zinga Son Vol 1 - Amigos Invisibles

Reggaeton: Caballo Viejo

2008-01-30T13:06:00.001-08:00

The Gipsy Kings might have sold more records with Bamboleo, their version of Caballo Viejo - Simon Diaz' classic of musica llanera - but the first person to have a worldwide hit with the track was Cuban sonero Roberto Torres. Now Torres is back with Venezuelan rapper Andres Eduardo Perez Fernandez, A.K.A Andre MC, with a reggaeton version.
The track comes from Andre's new album Lyrikal, which was released at the end of 2007.
For a boy born in Valencia - before he moved to Miami - you would have thought Andres could have squeezed in a harp and some maracas. Instead he's gone with Torres' Vallenato-inspired version.

CD Review: Arpa Venezuela - Rafael Ochoa

2008-01-29T11:33:00.000-08:00

Reissued gem by an unsung master of the harp

Arpa Venezuela (Airmail Music/Sunset-France)

Rafael Ochoa, 67, is a maestro of the Venezuelan harp who had his heyday in the 60s and 70s. For years he was part of the orchestra of the legendary harpist and composer Juan Vicente Torrealba, who took the rough and ready joropo music of the Llanos, or plains, and polished it to orchestral standards.

In these studio recordings from the 1970s, Ochoa tackles elegant waltzes and contradanzas harking back to the music’s roots in the Spanish fandango and the more spirited golpes, with their bug-stomping dances that echo the energy of flamenco.

The 11 instrumental tracks highlight the versatility of the Venezuelan harp in the hands of a maestro. Stand out numbers are "El Pajarillo", which takes off at gallop and barely pauses for breath, and the bolero-like "La Reina", where Ochoa is joined by blind pianist Rafael Aponte.

Other tracks feature the golpe tocuyano from the northwest, old-style merengue and Afro-Venezuelan cumaco drums from the coast.

But the real treat is being able to get your hands on this music in the first place. To find the original LP in Venezuela you'd have to dig through the crates in specialist second-hand stores for months. But now, due to some odd international recording deal, which included signing over a load of out-of-stock LPs to a French CD company, it can be yours for a few euros.

The big question that's bugging me is why Venezuelan folk music is so impossible to find in the UK or the USA, or Australia, or anywhere else for that matter?

Joropo is a hugely popular folk music. It's played right across Venezuela and the cattle-ranching plains of eastern Colombia. It is enjoyed both by barefoot cowboys in the countryside and concert-hall crowds in the cities and is ubiquitous on local radio and in barbecued-beef restaurants. But you'd never know it judging by the Venezuelan music you find outside of the country.

Salsa, merengue, reggaeton, hip-hop, rock en Español, all find an international audience, but joropo, the king of Venezuelan folk music, seems to be a step too far for most foreigners.

Perhaps all that will change with some of the great remixes being created by younger talents like Panasuyo and Babylon Motorhome. But until it does, the joyous sound of the 32-stringed harp, accompanied by shuffling maracas and a small four-stringed guitar known as a cuatro will be something tourists will have to travel to the country to experience for themselves.

Or they could pick up a cheap reissue of an old gem like Arpa Venezuela.

Ochoa was absolutely blown away when I tracked him down near Barquisimeto and called to say that this album was available on CD in Europe. He said he was pleased people were still listening to his music, although he could only vaguely remember cutting the tracks at several different studio sessions in the early 1970s in Caracas. He said he had never seen Rafael Aponte again after those sessions.

This is a great place to start for anybody hankering after joropo who likes their harp music on the smoother side.

If you live in London and you want to try before you buy, I suggest you visit Sterns Music at the top of Tottenham Court Rd, near Warren St tube.

Track Listing
1 El Pajarillo
2 Fuiste Tu
3 Dama Antanona
4 Seis Numerao
5 Nuestro Mundo
6 La Reina/El Pajarillo
7 Puerto Abandonado/Golpe Tocuyano
8 Como Llora Una Estrella/El Cumaco
9 Sombra En Los Medanos/Compadre Pancho
10 Canto A Caracas/El Norte Es Una Quimera
11 Llanera

By Russell Maddicks

To buy the CD click here: Venezuela Arpa

Oscar D'Leon - Lloraras

2008-01-12T05:53:00.001-08:00

Salsa star Oscar D'Leon is a true rags-to-riches story. He came from the poor Caracas barrio of Antimano and worked as a driver of a por puesto minibus before carving out a career as one of the greatest "soneros" of all time - up there with Hector Lavoe, Ruben Blades and his role model, Beny More.

He's still making hit records. His most recent album "Fuzionando", featuring collaborations with Puerto Rican reggaeton pioneer Tego Calderon and Calle 13, won the 2007 Latin Grammy for Best Contemporary Tropical Album.

In this video clip from a concert in Cali, Colombia, Oscar joins a full orchestra of top musicians from Puerto Rico and Venezuela to sing his signature tune "Lloraras". As you might gather from the title, there's quite a lot of crying involved.

Shame about Oscar's dodgy pyjamas, pero cartelua la musica!

Check out the lyrics in English:

I know that you don't want me to love you, you're always avoiding me somehow.
If I look for you over here, you pop up over there.
The only thing I want now is that you won't torture me anymore.

You will be sorry about your bad behavior, and my suffering will cost you dear.
You will cry and cry and no one will console you, and then you'll realize that it hurts when you're cheated on.

Later on you'll come asking for forgiveness, but my heart won't remember you any more.
You will cry and cry with no-one to console you, and then you'll realize that it hurts when you're cheated on.

You will cry, like I suffered, listen, you will cry, and no-one will understand you. Every bad thing you did to me, listen you will pay for it.

You will cry.

You made me suffer, now I'm the one who's laughing, now I will live my life as I wish.

I'm moving on.

You will cry.

Todosantos - Acid Boys Acid Girls

2007-12-28T14:58:00.001-08:00

Peach, Pharaoh and Purple Gold of Venezuelan Nu Rave group Todosantos have taken their dayglo disco circus from Caracas to Brooklyn, NYC. Here they join the likes of Cansei de Ser Sexy and Simian Mobile Disco with a big brash tune from their Acid Girlzzz EP that owes loads to the early 90s. It's a banging tune. Disfrutala.

Musica Llanera: Fabiana Ochoa - La Vecina

2007-12-27T13:01:00.001-08:00

Fabiana Ochoa tells the neighbour to stop bugging her hombre in this joropo, in which she says she is prepared to take on a river in flood or a very vicious viper rather than lose her man. Sounds like she means business.

La Vecina

Oiga vecina mejor no venga mas se lo digo por las buenas
Aqui a mi casa no se viene a coquetear, mejor se va y evitamos un problema
Verdad vecina mejor no venga mas o hablare con su marido
Si alla en su casa el amor no puede hallar
No busque aqui que aqui no se le ha perdido

Con lo mio mio mio, con lo mio no se meta (x2)

O es que usted no ha comprendido que lo ajeno se respeta
y que para un desafio hay que ser mujer completa

Con lo mio mio mio, con lo mio soy celosa (x2)

Por cuidar de mi marido soy capaz de cualquier cosa
Enfrentar a un rio crecido o a una tigra mariposa

Oiga vecina mejor no venga mas porque me pone nerviosa
Y no se sabe como puede reaccionar
Con su rival la mujer cuando es celosa

Verdad vecina mejor no venga mas o hablare con su marido
Si alla en su casa el amor no puede hallar
No busque aqui que aqui no se le ha perdido

Con lo mio mio mio, con lo mio no se meta (x2)

Click here for a video of Fabiana Ochoa singing "Carrao Carrao"