Petrona Martínez was Born January 27, 1939 in San Cayetano, Colombia. She is one of the most important Afro-Colombian artists in Caribbean Colombia. She learned the bullerengue in an spontaneous manner, very early in her life. All the songs are composed by her. In all of them there is a piece of hard and difficult life but full of magic.
Petrona knows the prayers to give farewell to the dead and she works as a midwife to welcome the new born.
In 1999, then 62 years old, she became Colombia’s maximum representative of pure folk music. The album “El Bullerengue” that contains a sample of wake songs was published by the French label Ocora. Later, she released in Colombia “La vida vale la pena”, where the life of a peasant dedicated to the extraction of sand of the stream to be able to subsist is told. All this with a deep rhythm, contagious and vital.
Discography
El Gauyú
El Bullerengue (Ocora)
El destape del folclor
La vida vale la pena
Bonito que canta, con Totó la Momposina (MTM Ltda, 2002)
Mi Tambolero (MTM Ltda, 2002)
Las Penas Alegres (Chaco World Music, 2010)
Petronica: Petrona Martinez Electronic Suite (Chaco World Music, 2015)
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.
