“Fusion Music is…

…a laboratory.”

Mauricio Guapacha - Papaya Republik

 

 

 

 

Mauricio Guapacha – Drummer from Colombian fusion band Papaya Republik.

Check out Fusion Music Is for ideas from other Papaya Republik band members (+ others). Stay tuned also for more info about this great band.

Papaya Republik

Bajo Fondo & Systema Solar – Muchisimas Gracias

Good music makes me feel happy.

Amazing music makes me feel incredibly happy, and alive.

Two Latin fusion music collectives I experienced on Friday night at Bogota’s Teatro Metropol made me feel that way. The live Bajo Fondo and Systema Solar experiences were an audio & visual delight that have put a smile on my face for days.

BAJO FONDO  (formerly Bajofondo Tango Club)

Bajo Fondo

Bajo Fondo at Teatro Metropol

Basic low down:

  • Collective of 8 musicians/composers/singers from Uruguay and Argentina
  • Fusion of tango/ electronica/ murgacandombemilonga/ hip & trip hop/ drum & bass/ rock/ house/ chill
  • Guitars/drums/percussion/bass/vocals/live visuals/sequences/piano/scratching/bandoneon/dj sets/violin.

Sounds interesting yes? It is.

For years I’ve been listening to and loving Bajo Fondo’s first two albums Bajofondo Tango Club and Mar Dulce. But the live experience of Bajo Fondo exceeded all hopes and expectations, and was more sublime than words can convey.

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Talented musicians and composers – High quality compositions – Ridiculously interesting and unique sounding music – Beautiful visuals – and a super positive and high energy stage presence.

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This was undoubtedly the very best live electronic music gig I have experienced in my life so far.

Need I say more? No – because you can check out the Bajo Fondo website to learn more about them, buy their music, and find the live experience wherever in the world you can.

Short videos from the Bajo Fondo gig here:

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SYSTEMA SOLAR

Systema Solar - Teatro Metropol- 2013- www.beaveronthebeats.com

Systema Solar at Teatro Metropol

Basic low down:-

  • 7 Colombians from the Carribean coast forming a musical/visual collective with “a strong emphasis on worship, dance and joy”
  • Fusion of  porro / cumbia / fandango / champeta / hip hop/ house/ techno/ breakbeat/ scratching
  • Turntables/singing/emceeing/percussion/ video jockey/dance
  • Super cool costumes

Spectacular live performance by Systema Solar at Teatro Metropol that had me smiling from ear to ear.

I doubt there is any group on this earth right now that sounds like Systema Solar do – and that makes them pretty special.

Awesome visuals too. It was cool that during some songs the stage lighting was dimmed so as to obscure or totally silhouette the music artists, allowing the focus to stay on the movements and bright colours of the visual arts.

Systema Solar live @ Teatro Metropol - Bogota 2013Systema Solar live @ Teatro Metropol - Bogota - 2013

The use of traditional Afro-Carribean styles in Systema Solar’s music meant that there were moments in songs, especially some vocal sounds, which reminded me of the sounds of Australian Indigenous group Yothu Yindi, infused with Latin sounds.

Systema Solar - Teatro Metropol6-2013- www.beaveronthebeats.com

Systema Solar’s proclaimed mission (a paraphrased Beaver translation from espanol) is:

To radiate the best of our energies to the world, and in each new stage of orbit to continue to assume our biggest challenge in this life – to be happy. Come dance with us…

Systema Solar live @ Teatro Metropol - Bogota - 2013

Systema Solar achieved that mission in abundance on Friday night. Blessed was I to have shared it, and dance I did!

Dance did everyone – illustrated by my favourite people moment of the night:

Seeing (in true & beautiful Colombian style) four uniformed venue staff succumb to the music, dance, smiles and positive high energy around them in the space.

I noticed them longingly watching everyone around them dancing. The moment came when they asked themselves “Can we?”.  Then answered “Yes, we can.  Why not?” So dance  they did – with the rest of us.  All smiling we were.

Systema-Solar-live-Bogota-www.beaveronthebeats.com

I highly recommend checking in to Colombia or somewhere else in the world to experience the Systema Solar collective live.

Check out these videos of Systema Solar at Teatro Metropol:

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Muchisimas Gracias to Bajo Fondo & Systema Solar for a warm and happy welcome back to Bogota!

Bajo Fondo - Live - Teatro Metropol - Bogota - 2013Systema Solar - Teatro Metropol- 2013- www.beaveronthebeats.com

 

I’ve already said it, I’m saying it again today, I suspect I’ll say it many more times before I leave Colombia again: I am ridiculously-happy to be back in this country to enjoy all the amazing and diverse musical feasts on offer.

Colombian Music v Cuban Music For Fusion

Deliriously jet lagged in Bogota. Slightly dizzy from the high altitude. So happy to be here. This time (unlike my first) I know the fusion music delights that await me.

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I was on a plane to Colombia when Cuban band Orishas gave me my first taste of Latin fusion music.

Fusion Music in Colombia? 

Arriving in Colombia for the first time, I didn’t know much about the music I’d find here. Only what travel books, blogs etc tell you generally about Colombians’ love of music and the popular music you will hear – Salsa, Cumbia, Vallenato, Reggaeton, Merengue, Champeta etc.  They are definitely right about that, but that’s only a part of the bigger musical picture in Colombia.

Colombia - www.beaveronthebeats.com

My first month in Colombia (Cartagena) all I heard was those popular genres of music – playing in houses, cars and bars everywhere. I left Colombia thinking those were the musical styles on offer.

Fusion Music in Cuba? 

I went to Cuba to find innovative and unique music.  I assumed I had a pretty good chance of finding it in Cuba.   When I heard Orishas on that plane I was even more hopeful.

Cuba - Beaver on the Beats

I never really did find it in Cuba. I heard music everywhere. I heard live bands playing everywhere. I heard multi talented/instrumental and technically brilliant musicians everywhere.  I found some cool, unique  contemporary jazz music – but I didn’t find much other music that really messed around with traditional styles and sounds.

Fusion Music in Colombia?

I found it when I got back from Cuba, to Colombia. Musical diversity+. Fusion. Lots of bands creating really original & unique music I loved by craftfully blending different traditional and non-traditional styles together.

Colombian music is the fruits of having a mix of very diverse peoples and cultures. Also unrestricted access to the music and peoples of the rest of the world – unlike insulated Cuba. Orishas live outside of Cuba by the way.

The musical diversity in Colombia, the fusion music and so many other reasons (people, food, nature & people in all their diversity) make me ever so happy to be back in Colombia again.

I still love Cuba too – and  listen to and love a lot of Cuban music.

Cuba - www.beaveronthebeats.com

A Fusion Ode to Cuban & Colombian Music

In celebration of both Cuban and Colombian fusion music then, here’s a really awesome fusion song. It’s  a collaboration between Cuba’s Orishas & legendary Colombian salsa artist Yuri Buenaventura.

300 Kilos (Orishas & Yuri Buenaventura – Emigrante)

  

Cuba – I’m not gonna make it to you this time round.

Colombia – here I am again. Bogota, here I am…for as many fusion (and traditional) music experiences as I can find.

WTF is ‘Fusion Music’ Anyway Beaver?

A good question – one that has many long, short and different answers depending on who you ask.

Jazz Fusion?

Jazz buffs might criticise me for talking about fusion music in the way that I intend to do, because ‘Fusion’ refers to a specific musical genre associated with jazz that developed in the 1960’s from combining elements of funk, r&b and rock music.

To those people I say in today’s globalised world, fusion music for me is a much broader concept than one jazz genre.

All Music?

Others say that ALL music is fusion music– because all music since the beginning of time developed from combining other musical styles. Flamenco came from Andalucian and Romanian music. Funk came from mixing soul, jazz and R&B. Salsa developed from blending North American jazz arrangements with Afro-Cuban rhythms, and so on and so on.

Great point, I agree with them. But surely at some point in the earliest of human histories (probably unknown to us) there must have been some pure, original forms of music uninfluenced by other music?

There is no doubt that musicians have been combining different musical styles to create new musical genres or ‘hybrid music’ for a very long time. Dearly departed legends Miles Davis and Fela Kuti are just two examples of countless such artists. The list of ‘named’ musical genres and sub genres just keeps getting longer.

I am simply a music lover and listener, without any claim to expertise in musicology. I could be completely wrong, but there are 2 things about fusion music that I’ve come to think…

1. What my ears tell me – that there are some music fusions that are more subtle than others, not even recognised by me.  Maybe they are just historical fact – the mixing of music styles that happened at some past point in time to make a certain new sound or genre.

Then there’s fusion music which is more obvious to my ears – a piece of music in which I can hear and identify the blend of two or more distinct musical styles. This is the music that I am drawn to and enjoy the most (if done well), because to me it sounds the most interesting and unique.

2. What my lifetime of experiences listening to music tell me – that regardless of how long it’s already been around for, the creation of distinctly identifiable fusion music, becomes more and more common to find. As time ticks on and globalisation of everything continues at a rapid rate, so too does the cross-pollination of musical styles and cultures.

That’s a super positive and exciting thing yes?  For me, yes – because it means the ongoing future creation of more unique fusion music sounds for listening and dancing pleasures.

Who Cares?

I shouldn’t forget to mention those who might say that any discussion about what fusion music is or is not, or about the long and constantly evolving list of musical genres and sub-genres, is all academic and a waste of time…music is music.

Maybe they’re right.

Beaver’s Fusion

Whatever the case, right now and for the purposes of this site, I’m talking about fusion music like this:-

Music which has a distinct mix of different musical flavors from different musical styles/genres, creating a delicious, interesting and unique musical meal.

If you’re interested in ideas people in music have about fusion, stay tuned to the evolution of ‘Fusion Music’.

What about you? Any thoughts or feelings to share about fusion music?