“My Colombian Music: Pablo Mayor’s FOLKLORE URBANO at the Highline Ballroom, NYC

Jorge Arévalo Mateus

Showcasing their latest release, Corazón (Chonta Records 2009), at the Highline Ballroom in New York City’s Chelsea district, Pablo Mayor’s Folklore Urbano demonstrated once again why they are one of the top Colombian bands of the aptly termed Nueva Colombia music movement.

Pablo Mayor’s Folklore Urbano in performance at the Highline Ballroom, NYC, February 25^th, 2009. (JAM photo)

Performing two sets of Mayor’s distinctive arrangements for 14-piece band, including selections from previous releases Aviso (2003) and Baile (2005), it became abundantly clear that Folklore Urbano has methodically evolved artistically, developing its musically rich and entertaining hybrid of salsa, Latin jazz, and popular or traditional Colombian musics. The audience of mostly urbane, cosmopolitan Colombians, after overcoming some initial shyness—typically not a Colombian characteristic—reacted to FU by turning the sophisticated supper club environment into a carnival-like atmosphere of unbound joy and dancing excitement. Having observed this sort of public reaction to FU time and time again, it is a remarkable testament to Mayor’s dedication to presenting the dynamic experience that is Colombian “party” culture.

Since moving to NYC in 1999, Mayor has been actively involved with its growing Colombian musical community. Dating back to the mid-1990s (and earlier), Colombian musicians like pianists Eddie Martinez and Hector Martignon, among others, worked in numerous salsa and Latin jazz groups, creating a space for Colombian musicians within New York’s highly competitive Latin music scene. Prior to that, the number of unknown and unheralded Colombian musicians that played in big band and mambo dance orchestras of the late 1950s and 60s established a historical precedent to the present and lively Colombian music scene, undoubtedly a promising area of further historical musicology and research.

Nevertheless, Mayor’s formula is an eclectic composite that retains the power brass of salsa’s Fania All-Stars combined with the colorful, harmonic “big band” language of Stan Kenton’s orchestras—at times, the horns and woodwind sections sounded more like the full Basie orchestra, testament to Mayor’s sophisticated orchestrating and arranging skills. Rhythmically driven by a traditional Afro-Colombian cumbia percussion section, Mayor draws from a wide palate of rhythmic foundations that result in the musical merging of intermingled musical currents. The addition of Baranquillero percussionist Nestor “Nestico” Gómez Jr. is particularly noteworthy to the percussive mix.

“Nestico” playing the vallenato caja

As such, Mayor recalls the modernizing innovations of costeño bandleaders Lucho Bermúdez and Pacho Galan, who transformed cumbia, gaita, and porro into popular dance music, but—and here is where it breaks new ground—with the additional polish, grittiness, and energy of New York City-based jazz improvisation and polycultural influences.

On Corazón, Mayor appears to shift his focus toward a more personal side, giving greater attention to song lyrics and poetic texts than on either of the previous releases. With his life and musical partner, talented flutist Anna Povich de Mayor, they are recent first-time parents, possibly explaining this more intimate side. Interestingly, Mayor chose to record and produce Corazón in New York (and New Jersey), instead of Bogotá, resulting in a recording that lies somewhere between two places, influenced by many sources, yet with flourishes and inspirations that are true to all of them.

Folklore Urbano, Pablo Mayor, Corazón, Chonta Records 2009 (www.folkloreurbano.com)

Tracks include:

1-Algo Bueno (4:55)

2-Cada Vez (4:17)

3-Expresar Amor (5:01)

4-Fandango (4:27)

5-Déjate Amar (4:40)

6-Alma Mía (4:23)

7-Pepe (4:51)

8-La Carta (4:48)

9-Maximina (5:03)

10-Pañuelitos Blancos (4:58)

jorge arévalo mateus

arevarc@mac.com