The Montreal cumbia group Less Toches performed three times at Nuits d’Afrique. Each concert was different, with special guests, allowing us to explore the diversity of this style… while getting everyone dancing.
It all began on July 13 with a Vallenato evening featuring Remberto Zuniga, a veteran singer and percussionist based in Montreal. Vallenatos are a kind of Colombian griot who travel from village to village singing.
After five minutes, no one was sitting down anymore, even though the crowd was small on this late evening of torrential rain. This concert would have to be repeated in a different context.
The second concert on July 14 aimed to bring cumbia closer to traditional Quebec music. The special guest was Alice Bro, a tattooed banjoist with a radiant, contagious smile and a husky voice, who offered a Tom Waits version of trad-keb. The mix wasn’t perfect, but it was very promising. To be explored further. The crowd, significantly larger than the previous day, danced enthusiastically, including a Serbian university professor whom we met by chance. These concerts provide opportunities for unexpected encounters.
The third concert, on the 15th, was the only one I missed. The guest was Ons Barnat, a musicologist, professor at UQAM, and reggae and dub music enthusiast. Another bold choice, which must have brought a lot of people to the dance floor at Balattou.
Less Toches are anthropologists of cumbia. Daniel Rodriguez, the percussionist and flutist who perfectly imitates birdsong, tells you, in impeccable French, lots of stories about the different styles and their more recent adaptations. A bottomless well of knowledge.
Less Toches is a gathering of new Montrealers of Colombian, Argentinean, Cuban, and Mexican origin. Unlike other recent cumbia offerings, such as Brussels-based Chiva Gantiva, heard at Nuits d’Afrique on July 8, Less Toches does not mix cumbia with electronic music. Nor does it mix it with brass instruments. The group is based on multiple percussion instruments and the accordion, with electric bass providing support and sometimes the traditional flute. But it hits the mark.
It will be interesting to follow Less Toches in the coming months. The group is currently working on its first full-length album. In the meantime, it will be performing at numerous festivals this summer. Get ready to “cumbier”!
Photo Credit: M. Belmellat
