While information about Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian revolution taking place in Venezuela is somewhat one-sided in the U.S., some of the positive things happening are getting reported. Apparently music education in Venezuela and classical music are taken very seriously. For many poor children in Venezuela music education is a transformative experience and plays a positive role in their lives. It is interesting that while many poor youth in Venezuela perform in youth orchestras, many young people in the US that live in poor communities do not have access to any school music opportunities. Students in Venezuela are given their instruments for free if they demonstrate dedication and the willingness to practice. Unfortunately in the U.S. many of our music programs exclude students who can not afford to purchase instruments. What would our music programs look like if students’ economic resources did not factor at all?
While Venezuelans take pride in their young classical musicians, ( especially their national youth orchestra, which has toured throughout the world in conjunction with other world class musicians) the country doesn’t only support classical European music. Chavez passed a law that requires all national radio stations to play at least fifty percent Venezuelan music, which has brought interest back to traditional music of Venezuela which may have otherwise have taken a back seat to American pop!
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Smithsonian Folkways will release ‘¡Parranda! Venezuelan Carnival Music’ by the group La Sardina de Naiguatá (The Sardine of Naiguatá) on June 19. The collection, part of Smithsonian Folkways’ “Tradiciones/Traditions” series, is the definitive statement from this pioneering 13-piece band led by visionary Ricardo Díaz. Díaz formed the group 27 years ago in a quest to fuse traditional Venezuelan parranda music with more diverse and progressive instrumentation and has revolutionized and reinvigorated the genre.
Listen to “Bandido”: http://snd.sc/Ic7o54
Listen to “Volveré”: http://snd.sc/Ic7nxX
Watch a mini-documentary on La Sardina de Naiguatá:
http://youtu.be/j-evG_OZZC0
La Sardina de Naiguatá will perform a free concert on June 29 at 6:30 pm at the 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The performance is a co-headline event with fellow Smithsonian Folkways artists Quetzal (Latin rock from East Los Angeles).
Current tour dates:
Date City Venue
6/29 Washington, D.C. Smithsonian Folklife Festival
7/5 Washington, D.C. Embassy of Venezuela
7/8 San Francisco, CA Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
7/11 Chicago, IL Old Town School of Folk Music
7/13 Chicago, IL Old Town School of Folk Music
If you think that your website visitors would be interested in this news, please consider:
– Posting the information in this press release and link to this page on your website and social networks
– Reviewing the album for the June 19th release date
– Conducting an interview with Smithsonian Folkways and/or the band
– Conduct a giveaway for a copy of the album via your blog or radio program (limits apply)
– Purchase the album at a discount from Smithsonian Folkways as a membership premium
Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. Our mission is the commitment to cultural diversity, education, increased understanding, and lively engagement with the world of sound. We seek to revitalize and assure the onward transmission of musical traditions in regions where they are endangered, and to cultivate the creative processes that lead to artistic innovation and evolution.
Thanks for listening! Please see below for the complete press release for this album.
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Kevin De León
Sales and Marketing
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
DeLeonK@si.edu
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Online Marketing
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
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La Sardina de Naiguatá Updates Traditional Venezuelan Music
Smithsonian Folkways will release ‘¡Parranda! Venezuelan Carnival Music’ by the group La Sardina de Naiguatá (The Sardine of Naiguatá) on June 19. The collection, part of Smithsonian Folkways’ “Tradiciones/Traditions” series, is the definitive statement from this pioneering 13-piece band led by visionary Ricardo Díaz. Díaz formed the group 27 years ago in a quest to fuse traditional Venezuelan parranda music with more diverse and progressive instrumentation and has revolutionized and reinvigorated the genre.
Listen to “Bandido”: http://snd.sc/Ic7o54
Listen to “Volveré”: http://snd.sc/Ic7nxX
Watch a mini-documentary on La Sardina de Naiguatá:
http://youtu.be/j-evG_OZZC0
Díaz says in the past parranda had limited sonority: “It was the traditional instruments, the cuatro (small guitar), furruco (friction drum), a little drum, and güira (gourd rasp), but it lacked power; it was not heard. Our parranda uses electronic instruments that were not traditionally used before.”
The instruments of La Sardina de Naiguatá include a trumpet, two trombones, electric bass, and a keyboard—together these simulate the tres guitar, bass, snare drum, granadero drum, congas, güira, and bell, retaining the joyous improvisation of the traditional style while adding distinct new sounds.
In the coastal state of Vargas, Venezuela, the town of Naiguatá is known for having the largest number of year-round festivals and celebrations—Carnival being among them. After the popular Carnival cycle is complete the ceremonial closing known as Entierro de la Sardina (Burial of the Sardine) takes place. The Burial of the Sardine marks the beginning of Lent and the transition between the licentiousness of Carnival and the spiritual absorption of Holy Week. A great procession takes place, wherein people play widows, doctors, nurses, priests, and other characters linked to a central theme often associated with current events. It is from this popular ceremony that La Sardina de Naiguatá—the group—derives its name.
Diaz, who has been actively participating in the celebration for fifty years, adds that: “A platform is made to carry La Sardina (the sardine) which is promenaded around the town. At the end of the day it is ‘buried’ by tossing it into the sea,” propitiating a good harvest from teh upcoming year. Music plays an important role in the celebration, and La Sardina de Naiguatá provides the live soundtrack for the street parades.
La Sardina de Naiguatá will perform a free concert on June 29 at 6:30 pm at the 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The performance is a co-headline event with fellow Smithsonian Folkways artists Quetzal (Latin rock from East Los Angeles).
Current tour dates:
Date City Venue
6/29 Washington, D.C. Smithsonian Folklife Festival
7/5 Washington, D.C. Embassy of Venezuela
7/8 San Francisco, CA Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
7/11 Chicago, IL Old Town School of Folk Music
7/13 Chicago, IL Old Town School of Folk Music
‘¡Parranda! Venezuelan Carnival Music’ is the 37th release in the Smithsonian Folkways “Tradiciones/Traditions” series since 2002. The series, a co-production with the Smithsonian Latino Center, showcases the diverse musical heritage of the 50 million Latinos living in the USA.
More information available at http://folkways.si.edu.
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