Traditional Songs and Dances From Colombia

Like field research in an anthropological journal, the album Traditional Songs and Dances From Colombia often comes across like a academic cataloguing his findings. If that were the case, then Son de Pueblo would have succeeded in highlighting the variety of Colombia's musical styles, with almost every one of the 12 tracks on offer here shining a light on something different, whether it be cumbia, salsa, porró or pasillo. Of particular interest are the lesser-known styles, such as son sureño or rajaleña, all rarely heard on record.

However, as with everything else here, they never quite come to life. Son de Pueblo are so earnest in their love for Colombian music that sometimes they forget their limitations. The vocals, for example, on ‘El Canalete, Mi Varita’ come nowhere near the beauty of the powerful female voices of Colombia's Pacific coast. Elsewhere, attempts to ‘modernise’ the music largely involve the addition of electric organ and jazz bass runs. These elements work well on ‘El Aguardientero’ and ‘Moliendo Café, a rumba and salsa respectively, but on the more traditional tracks they take away more than they add. When there is so much exhilarating folkloric music still being recorded in Colombia – Toto La Momposina, Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto and Gualajó to name a few – it seems a shame that this album has been chosen to represent it. Son de Pueblo would be far better advised to focus on one or two of their favourite genres than in becoming an encyclopaedia of Colombian rhythm.