OneBeat Colombia Mixtape and Videos Give Glimpse of Colombian Music’s Versatility; Applications for OneBeat 2020 Now Open
12 December, 2019In Spring earlier this year musicians from Colombia, Venezuela and the U.S. convened on Colombia’s Pacific coast to “write new music, lead community workshops, and give public performances along the Pacific Coast”, all in the name of OneBeat Colombia and their exploration of “how music can encourage post-conflict reconciliation and cultural development in this region and across the Americas.”
OneBeat are no strangers here, having provided the hotbed for the Brazilian/Venezuelan/Colombian/America group LADAMA to form [their members were 2014 alumnus of the initiative], and their focus on musicians from Latin America, as well as from across the world, continues to pique our interest. With simple ambitions to bring musicians together and to engage with civic life, OneBeat [who are currently accepting applications for their 2020 program] also produce some great music, as these latest dispatches from their Colombia trip prove. Here’s OneBeat to give a lowdown on what took place:
The OneBeat Colombia 2019 Mixtape presents the sonic results of this historic gathering of socially engaged musicians from Colombia, Venezuela, and the U.S. The first-ever OneBeat program on the South American continent, OneBeat Colombia took place in El Valle de Cauca, Bogotá, and Boyacá regions of Colombia in May-June of 2019. The program focused on how music can serve as a healing force in situations of post conflict resolution, and how we can build lasting creative ties between these three countries.
This mixtape can be listened to below and contains a wide variety of styles, from Pacific coast traditions to hip-hop, Venezuelan décimas, chirimia and bursts of electronica, as well as many more traditional, popular and experimental sounds:
Accompanying the mixtape are a number of videos which bring the music to further life, with accompanying videos recorded live in various places in Colombia. Here’s one of our favourites, a version of Pacific coast classic “Kilele”, that’s so good the locals couldn’t help but come and watch from the staircase.
Finally, we must also mention that applications are currently open for OneBeat 2020 with applicants welcomed from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba and Venezuela. Full details on the application process, which closes on December 20th, at https://apply.1beat.org
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