From the Vault Dept.: Tahuantinsuyo, a trio or quartet of musicians specializing in indigenous music of South America, was founded in the 1970s and endured at least until 2012. Their website no longer exists, however, but their recording “Tahuantinsuyo: Music of the Andes” is available at various online music sites. After reading the review below, which I wrote 40 years ago, I just might buy one.
BOB PHANEAUF, soon-to-be former chef of El Loco Mexican Café, is offering the Albany area a nightspot with good food and an impressive lineup of musicians, all in a comfortable atmosphere reminiscent of the folk clubs that proliferated in Greenwich Village 25 years ago. The question is: Will the area support such a place?
Spokesman for most of the musical numbers was Pepe Santana, from Ecuador. Like the other three (who are from Bolivia and Peru), be plays guitar, mandolin, pan pipes, pennywhistle and drums, and sings. He explained that “Tahuantinsuyo” refers to the area that was once the Inca empire; it literally translates as “four corners of the world,” and refers to an area that now covers most of Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador, and parts of Colombia, Argentina, and Chile.
The music was a mixture of ancient songs and dances and more contemporary numbers, the latter utilizing the Spanish-imported guitar and mandolin. Not only were all four talented and energetic musicians, they also put on a great show with many helpful comments and description.
Many different rhythmic styles were demonstrated, beginning with a Peruvian dance from the Lake Titicaca region that featured the pan pipes. An Ecuadorian forerunner of the ocarina was used in a pretty “dansate” which followed.
Much of the ancient music sought to forge a link between man and nature, we were told; a Bolivian song was sung that celebrated the snow falling on the high peaks of the Andes and a young man's amorous attempt to share his lady’s warm skirts.
There was a hypnotic quality about some of the music, particularly the more ancient tunes; the rhythms in all of the songs were strong enough to inspire many feet to tap. There even were some people dancing in the back of the house.
When the Spanish Conquistadores came to South America, we were told, the chronicler of the trip noted that the Spanish weren’t afraid of the native people as much as they feared the music – “infernal sounds” was the term employed. An example of those infernal sounds was given with a song from the Andes that used drums and pipes with a harmony of parallel fifths (a thing forbidden in standard Western music classes). It was infernal, all right, but very compelling. And obviously not infernal enough to scare the Spanish away.
Santana demonstrated an Ecuadorean song that you would dance to in the street on your way home from a late night. He played it on a pair of pennywhistles blown simultaneously.
The audience was invited to clap along on a couple of numbers, which was more difficult than many a folk concert requires: these rhythms are tricky.
For a finale, the audience clapped along with a sprightly tune for guitar, mandolin, recorder, and drums (or the South American equivalents of those instruments) while the musicians left the stage to dance around the hall. It was entrancing; people were attracted to follow, clapping, in their wake.
The series continues next Sunday with a 9 p.m. performance by Roger McGuinn, former lead singer-songwriter of The Byrds. Dinner is served from 6:30 to 8 p.m. with a menu that offers El Loco’s Mexican fare and other items as well.
– Schenectady Daily Gazette, 12 November 1985
No comments:
Post a Comment