Ocora Releases Vallenato

 

French world music label Ocora turns its attention to Colombia with a reissue album titled Colombia – Vallenato. This festive hybrid style incorporates European accordion, African percussion (caja vallenata) and Indian scraper (guacharaca).

Vallenato includes Amerindian roots, black rhythms as well as a form of singing based on the tradition of the Spanish romance, with a strict metric for versification (four to ten lines).

This musical style flourished in Colombia after three and a half centuries of intermingling in the Magdalena Grande region on the Atlantic coast of Colombia.

The album provides a detailed overview of vallenato’s history and subgenres.