Tambolero

Totó La Momposina's entire life has been dedicated to representing the music of Colombia's Caribbean coastline. As a singer, dancer and teacher she embodies that fertile place where Colombia's African, Indigenous Indian and Spanish cultures mingle to create a unique musical tradition. Totó is not only its greatest interpreter, but a restless innovator too.

As part of the Real World Gold series of re-issues, we have revisited La Candela Viva.
The original 1991/92 master tapes have been restored and remixed, instrumentation added, and backing vocals from Totó's young granddaughters. More than just a re-release of La Candela Viva, the renamed album Tambolero is a genuine re-appraisal and re-imagining of the original, in which Totó continues to reflect the experience of her native Colombia through her life and music. The two things are intertwined: the story of Totó La Momposina is truly the story of modern Colombia. It has also become a celebration of Totó's professional career, which will soon reach a landmark 60 years -- six decades dedicated to preserving, researching and developing an ancestral tradition, the identity of a people, passed down through the generations.

Tambolero showcases one of Colombia's national cultural treasures...at her very best.
fRoots (UK)