1er Festival Internacional de Alturas – Lima, Perú, noviembre 2014 (Asociación Arte de Alturas, 2015)
This album features artists from across the globe who participated in the first Festival Internacional de Alturas (Highland Festival) held in Lima, Peru. The festival celebrates the rich and varied musical traditions of the peoples who live in the high mountainous areas of the world.
The selection includes artists from South American countries that share the Andes mountain range: Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia and Argentina. Europe is represented by artists from countries that border the Alps: Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and Germany. The great Himalayas range is represented by an Indian act from Kashmir.
The diversity of sounds is quite striking. The album opens with Swiss band Alphorn who use the traditional alphorn (a really long trumpet-like instrument) in a contemporary fashion.
Track 2 features Peruvian vocalist Consuelo Jerí accompanied by Ricardo Villanueva, delivering music derived from the Ayacucho region.
Probably the most familiar from the Andes are the pan flute and charango ensembles. Los Jaukas (Perú) perform traditional Andean music using string instruments and flute.
Andrea Capezzuoli e Compagnia deliver an accordion-driven call and response northern Italian folk song combined with a jazz.
Argentina’s Mariana Carrizo performs a passionate Argentine folk song accompanied by a drum.
Freddy Torrealba is a charango virtuoso from Chile who demonstrates his admirable technique. He’s one of the finest charango players in the world.
Peruvians Jean Pierre Magnet (saxophone) and Luciano Quispe (harp) perform jazz-infused Andean music with an unusual instrumentation consisting of saxophone and harp.
Kofelgschroa represents the music of the Bavarian Alps of Germany. The quartet plays brass and accordion music inspired by traditional music.
Rabab Instrumental Group is a quintet from Srinagar (India). They perform traditional music using the rabab lute and clay drums.
Colombian act Dueto Vivir Cantando includes Fernando Salazar and Lucho Vergara. They play a melodic Colombian Andean song using vocals and guitars.
Andrés “Chimango” Lares is an Andean fiddler who accompanies traditional folk dancers. He performs a brief traditional tune.
French musician Laurence Bourdin specializes in the electroacoustic hurdy gurdy. His style crosses numerous boundaries, from medieval music to Occitan folk and jazz fusion.
Marcelo Peña is a quena (traditional Andean flute) maestro. He’s joined by charango virtuoso Wilson Molina. They represent the new vision of Andean traditions of Bolivia.
Peruvian act Conjunto Pancho Gómez Negrón are preservationists of the Chumbivilcas high plains traditional music.
The album closes with traditional yodeling music by Austrian folk band Alma.
The álbum 1er Festival Internacional de Alturas – Lima, Perú, noviembre 2014 presents a fascinating portrait of the diversity of traditional music from the highlands of the planet.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
