A new label parterning with Putumayo World Music – some great new sounds here.
Cumbancha is a new record label founded by Jacob Edgar, an Ethnomusicologist and music producer who for the past eight years has been the head of music research and product development at famed independent record label Putumayo World Music. It has been Edgar’s job to travel the world in search of exceptional artists and songs for Putumayo’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful compilations of music from all over the globe. Over the years, Edgar kept coming across artists he felt deserved wider recognition and assistance in bringing their music to the world stage, and he decided to form Cumbancha to address that need.
“I believe exposure to music from different parts of the world can help open a doorway to other cultures,” insists Edgar. “Listening to music is an excellent way to make a connection with people who are very different from yourself, and it can create a common ground that overcomes some of the barriers that separate people of different walks of life.”
More about them at Head Butler.
Watina
Andy Palacio & the Garifuna Collective
It takes a lot to make Americans listen to music recorded beyond our borders. Like Buena Vista Social Club. I’ll bet you bought that CD, played it to death, and drag it out now on occasions when you want an easy, hip-shaking lilt as background. But would you have given Cuban geezers a listen if renowned musician and producer Ry Cooder hadn’t brokered the sale and turned an otherwise obscure CD into a Grammy-winning hit ? If Wim Wenders hadn’t made an exquisite documentary film that turned seventy-year-old musicians into brand names?
Andy Palacio doesn’t have Buena Vista’s advantages. He’s from Belize, the least-populated country in Central America. His music celebrates the Garifunan culture, which is known to maybe five American Caucasians. And although his record company couldn’t be more distinguished in World Music circles — Jacob Edgar, its founder, was head of A&R at Putamayo — few of you have heard of him or his sparkling label, Cumbancha…..
One Response
HI! We actually got the preview copies of the Putumayo music at work, so I took them home for Evan to listen to. He absolutely loves it! Definately a CD worth getting!