Marimba del Pacífico is a celebration of the shared afro tradition that is present in Ecuador and Colombia, told through the ancestral instrument that is its namesake (and which was in 2015 named by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.)

A project that has been in the works for a long time, it was recorded by a supergroup of sorts, featuring heavyweight afro musicians from both Ecuador and Colombia, such as Hugo Quiñonez, Karla Kanora and Esteban Copete coming together through producers Iván Benavides and Ivis Flies, to rescue and share with all of us the rich oral and musical tradition that joins the warmer regions of both countries.

Symbolically, the project is named after the river that flows through both nations, sonically, it presents a diverse landscape of sounds (andareles, bombas, rhythms indigenous to the latin-american pacific coast), masterfully performed and recorded.

It is at times an album that requires your undivided attention and elicits a contemplative response from the listener; while at other times it just reflects the daily lives (and struggles) and the warm, joyful, celebratory nature of the people whose tradition it represents.

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Stream “Marimba del Pacífico” on Bandcamp.