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CHOCLITO de
CHACRA AJENA
- Kollahuara -
Bolivia (Odeon SLDC35315)
I translate this as "Sweetcorn from
someone else’s farm". It’s a Bolivian huayno.
AGUINALDOS
- Alirio Díaz -
Venezuela (Orpheus LDM-102)
Aguinaldos are Venezuelan Christmas songs
and are always in 5/4time. This set of aguinaldos was put together and
played by Alirio Díaz.
YO TAMBIÉN ME
IRÉ - Los Incas - Argentina (Philips V 29)
("I’m Leaving,
Too") a bailecito in Argentine style.
"Se fue mi negra y yo tambien me iré
Ay, palomita, ¿qué haré, con quién me consolaré?
Adiós mi negra, yo también me iré
Ay, palomita, ¿qué haré, con quién me consolaré?
Cartas y más carts por el correo
¿Qué haré con tantas cartas si no las leo?
Mi corazón sufriendo no sé qué
Ay, palomita, ¿qué haré, con quién me consolaré?
Estar solita y triste moriré
Ay, palomita, ¿qué haré, con quién me consolaré?"
(A lovers’ parting: How will I be
consoled? Letters and more letters in the post….what’s the use if I
can’t read them?)
A LAS ORILLAS
del TITICACA - Los Incas - Bolivia
(Philips V 29)
"A las orillas del Titicaca grabé tu
nombre sobre la arena
Vino la ola y lo borró todo. Y de tu nombre no quedó nada.
Sobre las peñas grabé tu nombre, vino la lluvia y lo borró todo
Sobre las peñas grabé tu nombre, vino la lluvia y lo borró todo"
ON THE BANKS of TITICACA
I wrote your name in the sand…a wave
came and rubbed it out.
PAJARITO,
PAJARITO -
Savia
Andina - Bolivia
CANTOS
del PILÓN -
Soledad
Bravo -
Venezuela
(Buda
B000001N7S)
A song sung by village girls when grinding maize into flour using
the pilon, which is like a huge pestel and mortar. As they bang
down the mortar, they sing the "Ï-yo"¨and then the cheeky
verses.
"Goodbye, dear "manita"
Goodbye and I'm saying to you
Tell me why you don't answer me
Iyó……………iyó……….
Bang the mortar down hard
it's just broken.
In the mountain there's lots of wood
And papa can make another.
I've got a headache from working so at the pilon
to fatten a pig and buy myself a nightgown.
Up there in that hill there's an odd couple
the thick donkey with the thin violin-neck.
If your husband decides to run off
I haven't even a cretonne nightie
To give you.
I don't want a married man
That'd really drive me mad
I want a single young man
Who smells like a ripe pinetree.
There goes her with the devil's face with the heart of a demon
who'se got a black tongue full of slander.
And the blockhead believes you get what you deserve
She lives in a broken-down cottage that trembles when the wind blows."
NELLY
(A. Lauro) - Gerald Garcia - Venezuela
FIESTA
NATIVA - Inkhay - Bolivia (LAT 50615)
Ecuadorean group led by harpist. The harp of
Peru/Ecuador is different from the harp of Venezuela/Colombia and
all are different from the harp of Paraguay.
PILCOMAYU
-
Kollahuara
- Bolivia (Odeon SLDC-35315)
("River Pilco") a bailecito from Bolivia
sung in Quechua and Spanish. This group comes from
Chile
IMILLITA
-
Awatiñas
- Peru (Odeon LD-1406)
This is a large Peruvian indian band. The
photo on their album shows 20 of them plus the two singers. The song
is in the rhythm of the huayno. This sounds typically andean
music. It is its pentatonic character which gives all Andean music
its special "sound". ALL music of the Andes is based on
descending pentatonic scales. If you play down the 5 black notes of
a keyboard you’ll produce just such a scale. It’s what gives the
music its profundity, as it changes constantly between major (happy)
and minor (sad). EVERY andean song ends on a minor chord, no matter
how happy it has been. If you want to play a typical intro to an
andean song on the guitar, try this: G7/C/E/Am or in the key of G/Em:
D7/G/B7/Em
A LOS
BOSQUES -
Savia
Andina -
Bolivia
CUMBIA
CIENEGUERA
- unknown group - Colombia
This gaita music from the coastal region of Colombia. The
cumbia is danced at night on beaches. The women wear white
dresses and hold a lighted candle in the palm of each hand, turning
the hands elegantly as they dance. (Cieneguera because it comes from
La Ciénega).
EL
CANELAZO
-
Inti-Illimani
- Ecuador (lvares C 457)
An albazo from Ecuador.
"Abra la puerta, señora, sírvame un canelacito
Déme unito, déme otrito hasta quedar chumadito
Abra la puerta, por favor, quiero
olvidar lo que es dolor
Que estoy chumando y…qué caray…ya voy entrando en humor.
Toda la noche pasaré junto a mi longa con amor
Aunque mañana lloraré mi soledad y mi amagor
Que estoy chumando y…qué caray….ya voy entrando en humor."
Open the door, señora, serve me a
drink
Give me one, give me another until I get sloshed.
Open the door, please, I want to forget sadness
I’m getting drunk…too bad….I’m getting happy.
All night I spent making love to
my girl
But tomorrow I’ll cry for my loneliness and bitterness
So I’m getting drunk…too bad….I’m getting happy.
FLOR de
SANCAYO -
Inti-Illimani
- Peru (DIPAC VC 0703)
A huayno from Peru, sung in Aymara.
"A la chuimani ilnilhuahuay
San Juan puipuir upur cachmá
Jashan jashani, concor cayuni
Perdón mayiri cutcitantau
Ay, mi palomita, perdón mayiri cutcitantau."
CHAGRITA
CAPRICHOSA -
Inti-Illimani
- Ecuador
Instrumental from Ecuador very nicely
arranged by this Chilean group.
PASCUA LINDA
-
Inti-Illimani
- Peru
Another fine instrumental (the title
means "Pleasant Easter"), this time from Peru.
LOS MAMONALES - Los
Macondos - Venezuela
The feature of this tuneful pasaje
from Venezuela is the conversation bwteen harp and singer
LA EQUIVOCA - Ariel
Ramírez with Jaime Torres -
Argentina
Well before Ramírez became world famous for his "MISSA CRIOLLA"
( a Mass set to Argentine folk rhythms) he was a celebrity for his
playing of Argentine folkdances on piano. Jaime Torres is Argentina’s
leading player of the charango (a small 10-stringed instrument made
from the shell of an armadillo). This is a chacarera, a dance
originating from the province of Santiago del Estero. It’s danced
by couples and is one of the few Argentine dances in which the woman
gets the chance to show off.
FLOR
de APURE - Adilia Castill0 - Venezuela (Barclay 86021)
A nice pasaje from Venezuela
sung by one of that country’s best female singers. Apure is one of
the United States of Venezuela and the name of one of its principal
rivers.
LA
LLUVIA - Alpamayo - Ecuador
(EUCD 1184)
Very Ecuadorean instrumental. The wind
instruments (quenas, zampoñas and rondadores) are great. The title
means "Rain".
MI TERESA
- Alirio Dìaz - Venezuela (HIFI R812)
This great classical guitarist always
included Venezuelan music in his concerts. This song is in 5/4 time.
Many people who try to work out 5/4 time do it like this: 1 2 3 4 5,
1 2 3 4 5, etc…In reality they’re doing SIX beats to the bar: 1
2 3 4 5 (&), 1 2 3 4 5 (&), etc….To do 5/4 time you must
start on the second beat: 2 3 4 5 ONE, 2 3 4 5 ONE, haveyougotitNOW,
haveyougotitNOW, etc….
HUAYNO de la
ROCA
- Los Incas - Bolivia (Philips 6332063)
Very well-known huayno from
Bolivia. The huayno rhythm is CHICK-boomboom, CHICK-boomboom,
etc. The "chick" is played on the rim of the drum. In
Western music, the click-sound would be the weakest beat. In South
American music, it is the strongest. In the Argentine chacarera,
you could play the whole thing just on the clicks.
EL HUAQUERO
-
Lidia Tolara -
Peru (see huaquero.com)
A song in the rhythm of the Peruvian
marinera. Huaquero is a term originally of Peruvian
origin now used throughout South America and Mesoamerica. The word "Huaca"
in Quechua language of the Inca meant sacred place or temple. It had
been corrupted into the Spanish-Quechua verb "huaquear", or "to rob
graves". Individuals who plunder ancient graves (huacas) were called
"los huaqueros".
HERMANOCHAY
-
Inti-Illimani
- Peru
Peruvian song sung in Quechua by this
Chilean group.
SOY de
ARBOLITO - Los Cantores de Quilla Huasi - Argentina (Philips P-13911-L)
This is in the rhythm of the
huella.
"Una huella" means "a track", but in the speech
of the Argentine gaucho it means the tracks left in the grass of the
pampa by a wagon. The pampa stretches from horizon to horizon like a
flat sea of grass. You can go all day without seeing another human
being, so when the gaucho comes across a huella he is happy that
someone else has recently passed that way. Maybe if he follows the
trail, he’ll catch up with them and spend the night round the camp
fire exchanging songs and tales and sipping maté tea.
"Yo no soy de estos pagos,
soy de Arbolito
Lugar de mis amores, pueblo chiquito.
Es un pueblo chiquito, como les digo
Y aunque me encuentre lejos, nunca lo olvido.
A la huella, a la huella, camino largo
Estar lejos del pago es muy amargo.
A la huella, a la huella, corto el camino….
Cerquita de mi pueblo lo es lo lindo.
El que busca distancias puede ir andando….
Y el que quiera querencias pegarse al pago.
Cuando estaba en mis lares, andar quería……
Y ahora por volverme…qué no daría.
A la huella, a la huella, dénse las manos
Y sigan despacito como jugando.
A la huella, a la huella, dénse los dedos
Y ´dentren´ como guapos al entrevero."
I’m not from round here, I’m
from Arbolito.
It’s a small place, but when I’m away I never forget it.
When I lived there, I dreamed of travelling……
Now, what wouldn’t I give to be home?
(All the songs in the rhythm of
the huella have choruses which begin A la huella, a la huella)
TRES
BAILECITOS - Los Incas -
Bolivia (Philips 77.306L)
The bailecito originated in Bolivia
and is now very popular in northern Argentina. It usually has three
verses, but it’s common to put three different ones together.
These are in Argentine style. Many years ago I went into a record
shop intending to buy classical music. My eye was taken by the
sleeve of a record of South American music. I bought it and was
captivated by the first track….this one. That’s what started me
collecting and later playing the music of Latim America…..it was
this recording. The great thing is, it sounds as fresh to me today
as it did then. As is traditional in the bailecito, the tunes
are played on two quenas.
GALERÓN
- Alirio Día
- Venezuela (Orpheus LDM-102)
They have a galerón in Colombia
and Trinidad, but this one comes from Venezuela - a brilliant piece
for solo guitar.
PAISAJE
-
Trío Los Dávalos - Peru (Festival FLD 19S)
When I bought this record a long time ago,
it had already been recorded years before, so the recording quality
is not the highest of FI. But what a lovely song (the title means
"Landscape" or "Countryside") which evokes the
beauty of Peru.
REGALITO
- Adilia Castillo - Venezuela
Another lovely Venezuelan pasaje .
The title means "a small gift".
LONGUITA
- Coco Aramayo y conjunto - Ecuador
A lovely, well-known albazo from
Ecuador. The rondador is prominent. This is the national instrument
of Ecuador. Usually, when you make a panpipe you simply arrange the
pipes (known as "canutos" from longest to shortest.
However, in the rondador they intermix two scales with the result
that you can play harmonies.
TU
TRAICIÓN - Los Romanceros Criollos -
Peru (Philips BL 7777)
Typical Peruvian waltz with plenty of tricky guitar work. The
vals
peruano has become very popular all over Latin America.
CORRIENDO en
la MEDIA LUNA
- Silvia Infanta y Los Baqueanos
- Chile (Musart D641)
This group made itself unpopular in
certain Chilean circles when it enthusiastically supported Pinochet.
Whatever you think of that, you can’t fault them musically. This
typical Chilean cueca (the national dance) is about a rodeo.
PIEDRECITA - Alpamayo
- Ecuador (EUCD 1184)
A sanjuanito from Ecuador. You can hear everything
on this: guitar, mandolina, quenas, sikus (also called "zampoñas")
, rondador and violin. The title means "The Pebble".
"Caminemos, caminemos, largo
camino tenemos
De Cayambé a Huachaylá, largo camino tenemos.
Quisiera ser piedrecita, piedrecita del camino
Para que tu pie tropiece cuando pienses olvidarme."
We’re walking and walking…….it’s a long road
From Cayambé to Huachaylá.
I wish I were a pebble, a pebble from the road
So that I could trip your foot if you thought of forgetting me.
TEMA CHILENA - Paul Farren - Chilean
influence
Yes, folks….it’s me. When I played with a dance-group of
Chilean refugees (from Pinochet) in London, we decided to put on
a musical play about Chile. We called it "uot;uot;uot;"Chiloé", the
name of the large Chilean island where the story was set. We
realised that the audience would be mostly Chilean, but with a lot
of English who wouldn’t understand the Spanish dialogue. So we
arranged breaks in the action where someone would step forward and
do a recitation to put the English in the picture; there would be
typical Chilean guitar music in the background. This is one of the
guitar bits I made up and performed in the play.
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