Still Skanking - Desorden Publico "Los Dados de La Muerte"

Venezuela's top ska band Desorden Publico have been making music for more than 25 years and they just get better with each new album.

Their latest video for Los Dados de La Muerte, from the EP "Los Contrarios" shows a re-energized Desorden Publico in blistering form.

After the Colombian-influenced cumbia-ska of their last hit single Cristo Navaja, Los Dados de la Muerte is a return to the classic 80s ska of Madness and The Specials that first inspired them to start a band in 1985.

It features a cameo by Kanikazu Tanaka of Japanese ska band Dad Mom God.

Salsa star Oscar D'Leon invites fans to London show

Legendary salsa singer Oscar D'Leon will perform with his full big band at London's Roundhouse on 3 November 2012 for a one-off concert that no Latin music lover should miss. As he says in this special video message to fans ahead of the show... it should be Sabroso!!
For full details of the concert and how to get tickets click here.

Venezuelan orchestra brings classical music to Scotland

The Venezuelan classical music programme for disadvantaged and shantytown children known as El Sistema has produced world class conductors like Gustavo Dudamel and the talented young musicians of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra.
Now, Scotland has started its own version of El Sistema based around the Big Noise Orchestra in the deprived estate of Raploch in Stirling.
Ahead of the live outdoor concert in Stirling on 21 June that officially kicked off the London 2012 Olympic Festival, the 200-strong Simón Bolívar Orchestra and its leader Dudamel held a special orchestral masterclass with the Sistema Scotland kids that was captured in this exclusive video by the Guardian Newspaper (sorry about the ad but it's not too long).

Smithsonian launches Venezuelan folk CD - Parranda!

By Russell Maddicks
Folk group La Sardina de Naiguatá will be bringing all the feelgood fun of a Venezuelan street party when they tour the USA in June and July with a series of free concerts in Washington, Houston, San Francisco and Chicago to promote their new album "Parranda! Venezuelan Carnival Music", which is being released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings today, 19 June 2012.
As the name suggests, the group comes from the town of Naiguatá - located on the long strip of Caribbean coast north of Caracas known as the Litoral Central.
The town is not the most picturesque spot on the coast - many people only stop here to stock up with alcohol from the many liquor stores before heading off to the popular seaside sands of Los Caracas or the more attractive and isolated beaches of Osma, Caruao and Chuspa - but for those in the know Naiguatá is famous for celebrating the largest number of street festivals in Venezuela.
The party people of Naiguatá have preserved the tradition of Diablos Danzantes (dancing devils) during the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi, hold parades in honour of Saint John the Baptist on June 23-24, and dance madly in masks and costumes during carnival.
But the festival that most clearly marks the town as special is the annual procession on Ash Wednesday known as El Entierro de la Sardina (The Burial of the Sardine).
Amid much mock solemnity a man dressed as a priest leads a motley assortment of men in drag known as viudas (widows) in a funeral cortege for a papier mache sardine that is ceremonially cast into the sea while the celebrants, including a horned devil, lament the end of carnival and the the start of Lent.
Fundamental to the procession is the music, a shuffling merengue beat that can be adapted to cover virtually any popular song of the day and which has evolved dramatically thanks to Ricardo Díaz - a local fisherman, trumpet player and founder of La Sardina de Naiguatá.
Realizing that he could add more oomph to the traditional procession music provided by cuatro (four-string guitar like a ukelele), charrasca (gourd or metal scraper) and Afro-Caribbean drums, Díaz added brass, electric bass, electric keyboard, and a choir of female singers.
The group now lead local revellers around the streets of the town from the back of a truck, giving a real carnival feel to the annual procession, which was brought to Venezuela by the Spanish and mirrors similar festivities still celebrated in the Spanish cities of Madrid and Murcia and on the Canary islands.
Over the years La Sardina de Naiguatá have built up a repertoire of songs that draw on local folk styles such as parranda and fulía that tap into the Spanish and African roots that gave birth to these hybrid musical forms that are as unique to Venezuela as vallenato is to Colombia or bachata to the Dominican Republic.
The Smithsonian was so keen to capture the authentic sound of the group that Folkways director Daniel Sheehy, the musical director Alexander Livinally, and sound engineer Peter Reinier travelled to Caracas to oversee the recording of the album, which was later remixed in the USA.
Folkways Recordings is the most important repository of World Music in the United States and was founded in 1948 by Moses Asch to document "people's music" from around the globe.
To coincide with the release of the CD, the Smithsonian has produced a mini-documentary about La Sardina de Naiguatá.
Parranda! Venezuelan Carnival Music
TRACK LIST
1. Abran la puerta [Open the Door] (calipso)
2. Parranda calle [Street Parranda] (parranda)
3. Volveré [I Will Return] (fulía) - Audio clip
4. Pájaro amarillo [Yellow Bird] (parranda)
5. Guayana es [It’s Guayana] (calipso)
6. Potpourrí “Alí Primera” [“Alí Primera” Medley]
7. Tambores de Naiguatá [Drums of Naiguatá]
8. El pilón [The Corn-Pounder] (parranda)
9. Flor de loto [Lotus Flower] (vals)
10. Potpourrí del gallo pinto [Spotted Rooster Medley] (fulía)
11. Río Manzanares [Manzanares River] (parranda)
12. Bandido [Bandit] (calipso) - Audio clip
13. Carmela (fulía)
14. Potpourrí “Sabor a navidad” [“Taste of Christmas” Medley]


To buy the album, download it from Amazon or listen to audio samples, click here.

For details of other releases on the Smithsonian Folkways music label click here.

US Tour dates and details: 
Free places are limited to some of these events so reserve early to avoid disappointment

29 June - Washington - Smithsonian Folklife Festival - Free - 6:30 pm
1 July Houston, Texas - Miller Outdoor Theatre - Free - 8 pm
5 July Washington -  Embassy of Venezuela - Free
8 July San Francisco - Yerbabuena Gardens Festival - Free -1-3 pm
11 July Chicago - Chicago School of Folk Music - Free - 8:30 pm
13 July Chicago - Chicago School of Folk Music - See link above

Cristo Navaja - Cumbia-Ska from Venezuela

Filmed in the picturesque mountain towns of Altos de Paramillo, Peribeca and El Topón around San Cristobal on the Venezuelan-Colombian border, Venezuelan ska band Desorden Publico's latest release is a whimsical confection of folk tradition and magical realism.

Models, folk dancers and men in Colombian hats with machetes make this the most colourful video the Desordenados have done for a long while and comes from their latest album Los Contrarios.

So what are you waiting for? Wave your machete in the air like you just don't care and sing!

Cristo Navaja


Caminaba por un mercado de esos muy improvisados
y en la mitad de la calle una vendedora ambulante
que tenia un ojo de vidrio me mostró un curioso artículo...
era un pequeño llavero con forma de crucificado Cristo


Fue así como compré esa potente cruz de metal
que tenía escrita la inscripción made in Taiwan
resulta ser que esa cruz dentro de sí oculta una navaja
que como una pico 'e loro - fuiss
despliega punzante el arma


Cristo navaja, Cristo Navaja
defiende mi billetera mientras da cobijo a mi alma


Cristo navaja, Cristo Navaja
defiende mi billetera mientras da cobijo a mi alma


Vamos to' el mundo!
Cristo Navaja, Cristo Navaja
Chumba la candela, maquinolandera
Dale cobijo a mi alma!

Musica llanera: Reynaldo Armas - El Cardenalito

Reynaldo Armas, from the small Llanos town of Guatacaros in Guarico State, is a highly-acclaimed singer and composer of Venezuela's national folk music joropo .

Here we see him at his best singing his theme song El Cardenalito in a concert from 2008 in Bogota.

Popular throughout the country, joropo is also known as musica llanera because of its strong cultural ties to Los Llanos, the seasonally-flooded cattle plains that stretch west from the Orinoco river to Colombia.

Joropo is traditionally played on harp, maracas and cuatro, a small four-stringed guitar, and sung in a rough nasal style by cowboy types in stetsons and pointed boots.

Reynaldo Armas is perhaps Venezuela's best-loved Llanero singer after Simon Diaz and has an incredible line-up of talent in his band, including the extraordinary harpist Leonard Jacome.

Joropo, which developed in the Americas from the zarzuelas and cante jondo brought over by the Spanish, is also a dance, a sort of waltz with jerky cucaracha-stomping steps by the man, known as zapateo, and dizzy twirls by his female partner.

El Cardenalito is a song about the rare bird of the same name (Carduelis cucullata), a Venezuelan finch known as the Red Siskin in English. This beautiful little red songbird is endemic to Falcon State. Sadly, the bright red plumes of the males and their high-pitched musical call make them highly sought after as caged birds and increasingly endangered in the wild.

Reynaldo Armas earned his nickname, El Cardenalito, for his sweet voice, which he alludes to in this autobiographical song that pays homage to his humble Llanero roots. 

Here are the words, so you can sing along with Reynaldo:

Aquí está el cardenalito
el cardenal de los llanos guariqueño
el de la laguna vieja
el propio serenatero
el mismo de quince años
y el cuarto de los recuerdos.
nací en el cincuenta y tres
cuatro de agosto en una noche de invierno
el campo los guatacaros
suelo santamarieño
me recibió una mañana con relámpagos y truenos
camino siempre de frente
jamás he sido embustero
soy bastante religioso
para mi chucho es primero
el que me conoce sabe
si soy malo, si soy bueno
Modesta Enguaima y Nicasio
Nicasio Armas los que al mundo me trajeron
mi madre nos es necesario
decirle cuanto la quiero
mi viejo se me murió
que dios lo tenga en el cielo.

Maestro arpista usted que puede
yo se que puede jáleme duro el bordón
que esta noche estoy dispuesto
a regalarle mi amor
a la mujer mas bonita
que se encuentre en la reunión
y después que me enamore
amigo mío que salga o se meta el sol
me pasare todo el tiempo
derrochando inspiración
como lo hace un guariqueño
cuando entrega el corazón
saque pareja quien quiera
que en mi joropo no hay discriminación
que lo bailen zapateao
repicando ese tacón
que al arpa cuatro y maracas
vamos a rendirle honor
que lo goce y lo disfrute
el sifrinito con la hija del ricachón
la negrita Dorotea
con el zambo Juan Ramón
y hasta la viejita Bety
lo baile con tío Simón.

Esta es la primera vez que yo canto un merecure
que yo canto un merecure
como se canta en Apure
Casorla y Corozo pando
yo voy el llano cruzando
con mi verso y mi corrio
bendito este suelo mío
de belleza singular
bendito el palmarital
el arrendajo y la paraulata cantora
bendita la flor de bora
la flor de bora
que adormece en el estero
bendito sea el toro
de puntiaguda semblanza
bendita la garza blanca
con su vuelo cadencioso
bendito el caballo brioso
pacitrotero y veloz
dame talento mi dios
para cantarle a mi llano
y sentirme soberano
hay soberano
con la hidalguía del valiente
y bendito sea por siempre
por siempre siempre
mi pueblo venezolano

Cuarto Poder - Fuerza Pal Latino

Venezuelan hip hop group Cuarto Poder drop their debut US album "In Tha House" on 19 October, featuring the hit tracks "Playita Arenita" and “El Que Llevo, Llevo” with Julio Briceño, lead singer of the Grammy-award winning Venezuelan band Los Amigos Invisibles.

When I get a video of a track from the new album I'll put it up. In the meantime here's "Fuerza Pal Latino" from their second album "Tamos Bien".

To download MP3 tracks from the album "In Tha House" click here:

Los Amigos Invisibles - Nada Que Decir

This is a blast from the past for all those fans of Venezuela's Los Amigos Invisibles who can still remember the excitement and joy they created 15 years ago when they first burst onto the music scene with their dancey Latin party tunes.

Just check out the groovy video... aciiiid!

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles cover of Los Fabulosos Cadillac's "Mal Bicho"

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

To buy the new CD 'Commercial' click here:
MP3 tracks from Los Amigos Invisibles:

Los Amigos Invisibles - Como Sabes Tu

'Como Sabes Tu' is the latest video from the band's new Latin Grammy winning album 'Comercial'.

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles cover of Los Fabulosos Cadillac's "Mal Bicho"

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

To buy the new CD 'Commercial' click here:

MP3 tracks from Los Amigos Invisibles:

Los Amigos Invisibles - Plastic Woman

Venezuelan band Los Amigos Invisibles were invited to play live on Texan radio station KUT FM in Austin, recently, cooking up a cool version of the track "Plastic Woman" from their Latin Grammy winning album "Commercial".

To preview "Commercial" and get songs in MP3 format click here:

To buy Los Amigos latest CD "Commercial" click here:

Sacha Nairobi - Princesa

After getting a couple of emails asking me to feature this track by Miami-based Venezuelan singer Sacha Nairobi, I decided to bow to popular demand and put up the video with the lyrics so you can all sing along at home.

The daughter of Venezuelan composer Enrique Hidalgo and sister to Jesus and Jannio of the group Los Hidalgo, Sacha grew up listening to folk music and composes all her songs on the cuatro, the traditional Venezuelan four-string guitar.

The track appears on the Putumayo compilation CD "Radio Latino". Enjoy.

Princesa
Mira
me acostumbré a las cosas buenas de la vida,
ya tanto tiempo que no viajo en limosina,
los sacrificios que hago por tí!.

Antes
de vacaciones cuatro meses para Italia,
con todo pago, tres criadas y una nana,
ahora me quedo en la casita preparándote comida.

Era princesa
pero no era felíz de esa manera
y ahora contigo estoy mejor
aunque no tenga dinero
porque yo me alimento de tus besos,
mi cielo, mi cielo!

No tengo dinero, pero tengo amor (x2)

Gucci, Prada,
Versace y Christian Dior ya no son nada,
te digo, la paso bien sin ropa entre tu cama, que rico!
y ahora mis amigas ricas mueren de la envidia.

Era princesa
pero no era felíz de esa manera
y ahora contigo estoy mejor
aunque no tenga dinero,
porque yo me alimento de tus besos,
mi cielo, mi cielo!

No tengo dinero, pero tengo amor
No tengo diamantes, pero tengo tu calor
No tengo dinero, pero tengo amor
Ya no tengo lujo, pero tengo tu pasion
No tengo dinero, pero tengo amor
Tengo una vida llena de amor

Joropo: Leonard Jacome - Tocando Arpa

Sometimes the sheer skill of a performer can blow you away. That's how I felt after watching the young Venezuelan harpist Leonard Jacome playing with Reynaldo Armas at the Teresa Carreno theatre in Caracas.

If you know anything more about this amazing young harpist please leave a comment.

Orlando Watussi - Las Calaveras Blancas

One of the unsung heroes of Venezuelan salsa, sonero Orlando Castillo "Watussi" deserves a place in the pantheon of musical legends for a 40-year career in Latin music in which he has played with such international greats as Cortijo,Bobby Valentin, Joe Cuba, Kako, Larry Harlow, and salsa supergroup La Tipica '73.

A native of Marin, in Yaracuy State, Watussi's musical apprenticeship was with Federico y Su Combo Latino, before branching out and singing with Los Satelites, and Porfi Jimenez y su Orquesta.

In 1990 he made his UK debut with none other than the legendary mambo king Tito Puente.

In total, he has sung on over 60 albums by other artists and released seven albums of his own material.

"Las Calaveras Blancas" is a composition by Jose Mangual Jr and features on Watussi's album Barrio, produced by the Venezuelan record company Latin World.

Orlando "Watussi" is currently based in Milan, Italy.

Visit his MySpace page for more details: http://www.myspace.com/orlandowatussi

Omar Acedo - Volvi Por Ti

Venezuelan singer Omar Acedo leaves behind his days in Salserin, Bacanos and Calle Ciega for a stab at a solo career with his new single "Volvi Por Ti", a romantic pop-ballad.

Filmed in Colombia by local director Daniel Duran, the video shows the 26-year-old Maracucho driving a Ford mustang round the country lanes outside Bogota.

Los Telecaster - Todo Muerto

"Todo Muerto" - the latest single by Venezuelan rock band Los Telecaster - has just been released with a video set in Mexico City directed by the L.A.-based Venezuelan filmmaker David Ramos and his brother Saul.

The song comes from the band's new EP, also called "Todo Muerto", which includes the tracks "Taxi", "Toronja", "Siete Cueros" and "Buen Doctor".

The new tracks were recorded at Grabaciones Jamaica in Mexico City, produced by Santiago “Chango” Gonzalez and David Francis O. Gorman and released on the Discos Tamarindo record label.

Video: Los Telecaster - Dandy Boy

Blanquito Man and Celso Piña - El Tren

After a long hiatus that has seen him working on solo projects with Mexican band Control Machete, Puerto Rican rappers Calle 13 and Los Amigos Invisibles (on a cover version of the Fabulosos Cadilacs' "Mal Bicho"), Jose Andres Blanco, AKA Blanquito Man is back with a new King Chango album in the works called "The Return of King Chango".

The rapscalious Venezuelan rude boy also has a new moniker: "Zuzuko, the Generous Giver of Uku Uku".

As a taste of what's to come, here's a cumbia-tastic collaboration Blanquito Man did with Mexican accordion legend Celso Piña from the album "Mundo Colombia".

Mango Funk - Trankilo

Maracaibo band Mango Funk hit big with "Trankilo" - a track from their album "El Nuevo Beat del Tambor", which fuses elements of Afro-Venezuelan beats with funk and electronica.

Basically, it's a break up song: "Mujer, dejame beber, dejame vivir tranquilo."

There are clear echoes of Los Amigos Invisibles on "El Nuevo Beat del Tambor", with the upbeat electronica and slow bossa nova tracks, but Mango Funk are succesfully carving out their own niche and "Guira y Tumbadora" is a great attempt at making folk drum beats funky.

It's a confident first album considering the band only got together in 2003, when guitarist and lead singer Alexis Romero hooked up with Miguel Romero on bass guitar, Melvin Portillo on percussion, and Luis Cova on drums.

Later, knob-twiddler and turntablist Carlos Guillen and keyboard player Oscar Vargas came on board to fill out the sound.

Check out their MySpace page:

I like the Gilbert and George inspired poster.

Mermelada Bunch - Los Hijos de la Cerveza

Another joyous ode to booze from Maracaibo band Mermelada Bunch with their "Hijos de la Cerveza" ("Sons of Beer") a nice companion piece to their earlier track "Comando Borracho".

Hijos de la Cerveza

Somos los reyes, amantes de la cebada
gozamos mucho, nadie nos gana
Siempre animados vivimos de fiesta en fiesta
somos muy unidos por eso nos respetan

Los campeones (Al tomar)
Los campeones (Al bailar)
Los campeones a la hora de gozar

Somos alegres (Si es verdad)
Somos unidos (¡Si es verdad!)
Somos juntos una gran fraternidad


Somos los hijos de la cerveza
buenos muchachos y a nosotros nos respetan
Somos los hijos de la cerveza
buenos muchachos y a nosotros nos respetan

(¡Atencion atencion! todos preparados
Todos con sus jarras arriba
Recuerden que somos los mejores, somos los campeones
Fuimos hechos para ganar)

Elegido siempre somos los mejores
habemos flacos y barrigones
No nos importa si no tenemos dinero
asi se caiga el mundo la cerveza primero

Somos atentos (Si señor)
Somos apuestos (Como no!)
Los campeones en el tema del amor

Somos hermanos (Si es verdad)
Somos amigos (¡Si es verdad!)
Somos unidos la mejor fraternidad

(Vamos muchachos no se vayan se lo pido
No hemos perdido, no hemos perdido
Vamos muchachos no se vayan por favor
aun queda tiempo, ahora es que viene lo mejor)

¿Y donde estan? (¿Y donde estan?)
¿Y donde estan? (¿Y donde estan?)
¿Y donde estan los que nos iban a brindar?
¿Y donde estan? (¿Y donde estan?)
¿Y donde estan? (¿A donde van?)
¿Y donde estan los que nos iban a brindar?

Los Amigos Invisibles: Vivire Para Ti

UPDATE: Los Amigos Invisibles win their first Latin Grammy for the album "Commercial"

Another great track from "Commercial", the latest CD by Los Amigos Invisibles, which is scheduled for a 9-June release.

"Vivire Para Ti" features guest vocals by the Mexican singer Natalia Lafourcade, who won a Latin Grammy for her 2005 album "Casa".

Chulius and Natalia make it one sweet duet.

Vivire Para Ti

Ven y dame todo lo que tienes
que yo esperando estare aqui
ven y besame hasta la muerte
Y asi sere yo por ti feliz

Te entregare mi vida
y no tendre salida
solo tuyo sere

Te llevare hasta el cielo
y dormire en tus senos
solo tuyo sere

Ven y dame todo lo que quieras
que yo esperando estare por ti
ven y llevate lo que prefieras
que todo todo esto es para ti

Y entregare mi vida
y no tendre salida
solo tuya sere
te llevare hasta el cielo
y dormire en tus senos
solo tuya sere

Tu te entregas lentamente
y yo te toco dulcemente
anda quedate en mi mente
hagamos que este amor reviente

Tu seras la que me inspire
me consienta y me domine
no dejemos que termine
pues yo hare que te fascine
vivire para ti

To download Los Amigos Invisibles MP3 tracks click here:

To buy the new CD "Commercial" click here:



Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

CD Review: Venezuelan Zinga Son Vol 1 - Amigos Invisibles

CD Review: Arepa 3000 - Los Amigos Invisibles

Documentary - El Carrao de Palmarito

Venezuelan director John Petrizzelli's award-winning 1998 documentary about Llanero singer Juan de Los Santos Contreras, better known as El Carrao de Palmarito, is a classic of the genre.

The 26-minute film is in Spanish but non-Spanish speakers will still enjoy the music and the images of the Llanos region.

For more information about the life of El Carrao de Palmarito, who died in 2002 aged 74, click here: