Afrosound - 1973 - La Danza De Los Mirlos

Afrosound

1973

La Danza De Los Mirlos

01. Caliventura

02. En La Espesura Del Monte

03. El Forastero

04. El Chorrillo

05. Esperando Por Ti

06. La Cancion Del Viajero

07. Sabor Navideño

08. La Danza De Los Mirlos

09. La Magdalena

10. Cachucha Bacana

11. Cabeza De Chorlito

12. La Sirena

Mariano Sepúlveda: guitar

Hernán Gutiérrez: piano

Fernando Villegas: congas

Rafael Benítez: timbales

Jesús Villegas: bongo

Rafico Restrepo: guiro

Afrosound was born from the desire of Discos Fuentes vice-president José María Fuentes to come up with a domestic version of the emerging African and Latin rock sounds coming from outside the country, inspired by groups like Osibisa and Santana. The mission was to emulate the guitar-heavy tropical sounds emanating from Perú and Ecuador at the time. According to various sources, the 1972 tune "La Danza De Los Mirlos" (by Peru's Los Mirlos) emerged as a great success in Colombia and with it a new way of interpreting the country's most famous musical export, namely cumbia, through a Peruvian perspective. Afrosound would cover not only "La Danza De Los Mirlos" and name their debut LP after the song in 1973, but they would also faithfully reproduce the unique sound of their guitar hero Enrique Delgado. The first Afrosound recordings were made with a fantastic rhythm section consisting of talented musicians that had played with Fruko y sus Tesos. To add to the hippie vibe, there were plenty of whacky improvised vocal asides (called "inspiraciones"), plus custom fuzz, wah-wah, flange and echo effects boxes for the guitar and keyboards. A barrage of odd sounding synths, drum machines and other electronic flourishes were sprinkled in to spice up the proceedings, providing a competitive edge that made the Fuentes sound so unique. La Danza De Los Mirlos kicks off with most famous Afrosound hit of all, 'Caliventura', a genius blend of funk and cumbia. Aside from the cumbia amazónica title tune, there are several other covers including three popular songs by Nelson y Sus Estrellas, plus radically reimagined versions of various Colombian costeño classics published by Fuentes. Mario "Pachanga" provides a sad but still groove-oriented Christmas son montuno/cumbia hybrid while Fruko brings us the bomba-funk ditty "El Chorrillo" and the rocking cumbia Andina gem "Cabeza De Chorlito" where Sepúlveda channels Enrique Delgado. Fruko collaborator Hernán "Hercovalle" Colorado Vallejo rounds things out with the melancholic psychedelic cumbia "Esperando Por Ti", proving that every tropical party has to have its down side as well. All in all, the dozen tracks on Afrosound's debut long play make for a surprisingly diverse palette from which these Colombian musicians painted their daring portrait of Peruvian cumbia, returning the favor in bold colors that still resonate almost 50 years later. 

Afrosound’s mission was to emulate the guitar-heavy tropical sounds emanating from Perú and Ecuador at the time. To add to the hippie vibe, there were plenty of whacky improvised vocal asides (called ‘inspiraciones’), plus custom fuzz, wah-wah, flange and echo effects boxes for the guitar and keyboards. A barrage of odd sounding synths, drum machines and other electronic flourishes were also sprinkled in to spice up the proceedings.

The dozen tracks on Afrosound’s debut long play make for a surprisingly diverse palette from which these Colombian musicians painted their daring portrait of Peruvian cumbia, returning the favor in bold colors that still resonate almost 50 years later.

“La danza de los mirlos” kicks off with most famous Afrosound hit of all, ‘Caliventura’, a genius blend of funk and cumbia. Also, there are several covers including various Colombian costeño classics, a groove oriented son montuno / cumbia hybrid, Fruko’s bomba-funk ditty ‘El chorrillo’, the melancholic psychedelic cumbia ‘Esperando por ti’ and the rocking cumbia andina gem ‘Cabeza de chorlito’.