Yapunto

Alexandra Charry, from the Colombian city of Cali, fronts a ten-piece collective in her adoptive France, dedicated since 2015 to the promotion of South American culture. Her warm, distinctive vocals are the glue that binds the diverse backgrounds and influences of the mainly French, mainly conservatory-schooled musicians to her native African, Spanish and Amerindian musical traditions.

On the album's delicious opener, ‘Malo Viento’, a lachrymose guitar refrain echoes resident lyricist's Nancy Murillo's concern for our ravaged environment and devastated biodiversity. But the elegiac motif is leavened throughout the eight original songs and the single instrumental (‘El Mar y Ella’) by the music's rhythmic brio and a parallel celebration of the unbreakable spirit in the face of adversity of society's ‘invisible ones.’ The result is festive, brassy and intoxicating. Elements of cumbia, vallenato, música de la interior and other indigenous musical forms all lope along in that infectious, unmistakable Colombian manner towards the riotous crescendo of ‘Ultima Moda’ and ‘A Lo Loco’. If a regular dose of dancing is as good for you as they say, this sparkling debut album is one to play daily.