Arriba Suena Marimba: Currulao Marimba Music from Colombia

The ensemble play and sing heavily rhythmic, rolling pieces based around material on this recording. Call-and-response interplay between women's voices, insistent pummeling rhythms on various percussion instruments, and marimba dominate the arrangements. While the group is Colombian, the music is quite African-influenced in nature, to the point where some listeners with a general familiarity with music might not guess the performers were South American. The haunting, somewhat doleful quality of the women's voices is highlighted on the percussion-less though it's atypical of a set that usually makes the propulsive rhythms a key feature. The 36-page booklet presents overviews of the musical style, the specific musicians featured on the recording, and the songs performed on the album, in both English and Spanish. ~ Richie Unterberger