La Cumbia Moderna De Soledad

Pedro "Ramayá" Beltrán, born in Patico, a small town in Colombia's Bolívar province, is a maestro of Colombian folkloric music known as the King of the 'caña de millo' flute, although he is also proficient in various percussion instruments as well as the reed instrument known as 'gaita'. He founded La Cumbia Moderna de Soledad in the early 1970s. With this group he set out to "modernize" the folkloric music of his people, adding electric bass and a brass section to fresh arrangements of cumbias, porros, fandangos, puyas and other costeño genres. "La Clavada" (1979) was La Cumbia Moderna de Soledad's sixth record and first for Codiscos' Costeño imprint. The LP has many excellent examples of Beltrán's inventive mix of the ancient and the modern, making for a collection of tunes brimming with tradition and yet fearlessly bristling with innovation, not the least of which is 'Crees que soy sexy', with its gaita refrain mimicking the main melody of Rod Stewart's international disco smash 'Da Ya Think I'm Sexy'. The album's title song was a massive hit in Colombia and has become a standard of the genre. Restored to its original glorious sound, this LP is poised to be rediscovered as an innovative yet rootsy gem. Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180g vinyl. Part of Vampisoul's reissue series of classic LPs from Colombia's Codiscos and its sublabels such as Zeida, Costeño and Famoso. DETAILS/DESCRIPTION: Contrary to popular belief, so-called 'folkloric' music is not always conservative and static, and is often the cultural space where musical innovation and experimentation first take place. Additionally, since folk music is often produced "by the people for the people", it is frequently quite popular and dynamic; indeed it is seen as an integral part of a people's identity, and yet often keeps its humble and unadorned trappings from whence it came, even when commercial interests try to harness, modify, water it down and sell it elsewhere. Though it may not be fa