Cumbia

Cumbia is originally a Colombian folk dance and dance music and is Colombia's representative national dance and music along with vallenato. The Cumbia is an autochthonous dance and music from the Caribbean Coast of Colombia, with variants of equally folk in Panama.

It is a popular music and dance in different Latin-American countries, where it has followed different variants as the Mexican, Argentine, Peruvian, and others.

Modern cumbia includes instrumental mixing; guitars, accordions, bass guitar, modern flutes and modern deep-toned drums and other percussions. The basic rhythm structure is 4/4. Cumbia is the net intersection of two cultures that settled in the region of what is now northern Colombia at different times; the Amerindians and African slaves. Cumbia began as a courtship dance practiced among the slave population that was later mixed with the European instruments and influence.

Origins

Cumbia is a variant of the African Guinean cumbe music. Cumbia started in the northern region of Colombia, mainly in or around Cartagena during the period of Spanish colonization. Spain used its ports to import African slaves, who tried to preserve their musical traditions and also turned the drums and dances into a courtship ritual. Cumbia was mainly interpreted with just drums and claves.

The slaves were later influenced by the sounds of Amerindian instruments from the Koguis and Kuna tribes settled between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Montes de María; like the millo flutes, gaita flutes, and güiros. Africans and Amerindians working together as slaves created a mixture from which the gaitero (cumbia interpreter) appeared, with a defined identity by the 1800s. (These gaiteros are not to be associated with the Venezuelan Zulian gaiteros.) The European guitars and accordions were added later, through Spanish influence.

Cumbia as a courtship ritual

The danced courtship ritual was rhythmically performed with music played by groups of men and women couples; women playfully waving with their long skirts and holding a candle, while the men danced behind the women, with one hand on his back and the other one holding his hat, putting it on and off and waving it. Men also carried a red type of handkerchief which they either wrapped around their necks, waved in circles in the air or handheld together with women. Until mid-20th century, cumbia was considered a vulgar dance, practiced only by the lower classes.

Musical instruments

Traditional instruments used in cumbia:

• Drums: Cumbia drums were of African origin and were brought along with slaves to the Americas by the Spanish conquerors. Africans used wood, ropes made out of sisal (Agave sisalana), and animal dry skins to make their drums. They either played the drum by hitting it with their hands or with sticks. Sometimes they wrapped the tip of the sticks with dry skin to prevent wearing off the drum. Cumbia interpreters produce variations of the sound emitted by the drum by hitting it on almost every area of the wooden base and dry skin.
• Claves: are a pair of hard thick sticks, usually used to set the beat throughout the song.

Cumbia in the American Continent

Cumbia has generally been enjoyed by the lower classes of the American continent due to its rather simple sound and lyrics. Due to the diversity in Latin America, the music has undergone changes as it mixed with the regional music styles. Therefore, there are several variations of the music.

Colombia

Today traditional cumbia is preserved and considered representative of the Colombian identity, but especially in the Northern Caribbean coast. It is also associated to Barranquilla's Carnival and the Vallenato Legend Festival. Modern forms of Cumbia are most widely accepted when fusioned with other genres such as vallenato or rock, as does Carlos Vives, for example.

Argentina

The music tends to be appreciated more by the lower social classes, and is often scorned by the upper classes. In Argentina, for example, this social divide is exemplified by the cumbia villera phenomenon, that intends to represent and resonate with the poor and marginalized dwellers of villas miseria (shanty towns and slums), with lyrics glorifying theft and drug abuse, much like Northern American hip hop. However, it must be noted that a lighter form of cumbia enjoyed widespread popularity in Argentina during the 1990s (see Argentine cumbia).

Chile

Popular with the lower social classes, it is often made fun of by the middle and upper classes. Nevertheless, it is widely danced at parties and gatherings.

Mexico

Cumbia music in Mexico is very diverse, with a variety of styles emerging from different regions. In the south, Puebla City is the center of the Cumbia Sonidera, a rebirth of Mexican Indian tribal sounds with modern electronic textures and patterns. In the northern city of Monterrey, Latin Grammy nominee Celso Pina y Su Ronda Bogata have popularized Cumbia Vallenato, and fused it with Electronica, Hip-Hop, Reggae, and Dub. More notably in the neighborhoods or colonias as they are referred to in: Colonia Independencia or "La Riska", La Sierra Ventana and Sierra Campana. The emigration of Mexicans to the United States has also increased the music's popularity in the USA.

More recently the term "cumbia" has taken on an even more diverse meaning as a radio format that emphasizes traditional popular and folk music.

Peru

Peruvian Cumbia

Peruvian Cumbia is generally known as "Chicha." It is a subgenre of the Cumbia, and it is very popular with the lower social classes. Starting in the 60's, with Los Destellos, and later Los Mirlos, Los Shapis, Cuarteto Continental, Los Diablos Rojos etc. The higher classes generally view the music with contempt and somewhat rejection, though this subgenre is starting to catch on to them. This can be taken as a good example of how the popularity of the music has been increasing over the years. Some musical groups that play Chicha are: Agua Marina, Armonia 10, Agua Bella, Grupo 5, etc.

Tecnocumbia

Starting in Mexico, later in Peru and Bolivia, the style derived from the fussion of Andean "Chicha" and modern Mexican cumbia with the addition of synthesizers and other electronic instrumentation. Due to this technological changes to the music, it became known as the "tecnocumbia." The popularity of the tecnocumbia has been increasing over the years, and many countries such as Argentina and Chile have adapted it to their particular likings.

El Salvador

"Chanchona" music of cities such as Sonsonate follows a Cumbia rhythm and uses accordion, electric bass, congas, guira, and occasional keyboard. This genre is popularized by artists such as La Chanchona de Tito Mira and La Chanchona del Arcadio. Chanchona sometimes also features a marimba, made famous in the genre by Fidel Funes.

Orchestras such as Los Hermanos Flores also perform cumbia with basic instrumentation (replacing accordion with brass instruments and woodwinds), and use traditional percussion and electric bass.

United States

Selena, The Kumbia Kings, The Kumbia All Starz, The Super Reyes, Grupo Fantasma, La Internacional Sonora Show and the Very Be Careful are famous musicians based in the United States that have performed and/or specialize in cumbia.

See also

• Colombian music
• Vallenato
• Totó la Momposina
• Diana Mercado from Barranquilla, Colombia Objetivo Fama 5