Fans of modernized Latin American cumbia are in for a real treat at the beginning of July: after performances by Frente Cumbiero and Empanadas Illegales at FIJM, the 39th edition of the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique kicked off with La Chiva Gantiva, a group of Colombians based in Brussels, who quickly set the Balattou alight. Like a match on very dry wood. The fire crackled. Instantly!
La Chiva Gantiva is made up of five versatile musicians who alternate between percussion, keyboards and other sequencers, guitars and basses, and flutes both normal and synthetic. Rafael Espinel takes the lead on vocals and all kinds of other instruments, especially the conga.
La Chiva Gantiva has nothing to envy of Colombia’s great electronic cumbia groups. The group has found an original blend of sounds, sometimes ethereal, sometimes percussive, with playful, intense improvisations. Many of the pieces were taken from their latest creation, Ego, released this year. As Rafael Espinel explained to us in an interview, this album, while playful and danceable, also contains reflective texts, notably on the inordinate place occupied by egocentricity in our societies. And on hunger and the future of indigenous peoples.
There was a surprise guest to accompany the band for a few songs. Noé Lira, the Mexico native, part-Quebecer, part-Mexican, fit in perfectly with the Belgo-Colombians’ groove. And the audience? A cross-cultural, cross-generational mix who got right into it. Most of them danced for most of the concert.
Photo Credit: M. Belmellat
