Cimarrón: La Recia — Colombian joropo music with a feminist twist

Think of Colombian music and the immediate styles that come to mind are cumbia, the lumbering, heavy rhythm from the coastal regions, and the flashy virtuosity of salsa. But the country is known as the land of a thousand rhythms, and far from the coast on the Orinoco plains near the border with Venezuela, the music that holds the reins is joropo, a genre popular with the cowboys who live and work there.

Cimarrón, perhaps the best-known joropo band, was founded more than two decades ago by the harpist Carlos Cuco Rojas and the singer Ana Veydó. The band has enjoyed a storied career, with several awards, Grammy nominations and collaborations with musicians including the Welsh harpist Catrin Finch.

Cuco Rojas died in 2020, leaving Veydó a widow. On La Recia — which means “tough woman” — she fully takes on the leadership of the band. Cuco Rojas is represented here by “Cuco en el Arpa”, an improvisation for harp recorded before his death but, elsewhere, this is still recognisably a Cimarrón album, full of driving rhythms and handclaps, flamboyant harp-and-guitar showcases and Veydó’s gutsy, trilling singing, but with an extra feminist twist.

On “Recia como el Orinoco”, for example, Veydó hymns the strength of the women of the Orinoco River communities. “I want to lasso my fast singing in my rope,” she sings, “and I want my singing to be free as a wild horse . . . fast as the prayer of a sorcerer at night in a cemetery.” The traditional song “Velorio” tells the story of a miracle performed by the Virgin Mary, transplanted to a land of orange trees, where she restores the sight of a blind farmer. Here, it is beefed up with the beat of a manguaré, a rare percussion instrument from the deep rainforest. The fullest expression of the band’s new emphasis comes on “Pajarillo de la Noche”, a sharp, percussive, syncopated pajarillo that praises the courage of women who reject social norms: the unmarried, the widow, childless women considered to be witches.

“Cimarroneando” highlights all of the band’s instruments by turn, reeling from harp, guitarlike cuatro and bandola to maracas, bass, cajón and Afro-Colombian tambora. “Parranda Quitapesares con Zapateo” is another instrumental showcase. “This love I bring you,” sings Veydó on “Agüita Fresca”, “is fresh lemonade for the summer of your heart.” Calls and responses echo over a souped-up llanero beat. The slow, fragmentary “Del Viento” is propelled by wordless screams over a windy howl. The singalong “El Gavilán” is a stomping traditional song about a sparrowhawk.

★★★★☆

‘La Recia’ is released by Cimarrón