A free summer concert series will heat up the Weehawken waterfront with live music from South America this Wednesday night. The New York-based band Folklore Urbano is a 12-piece musical ensemble featuring the fiery rhythms and arrangements of traditional Colombian music. On Aug. 19 the band will play in Lincoln Harbor beginning at 7 p.m. as part of the Hudson Riverfront Performing Art Center’s Summer Concerts on the Hudson series.
The talented group of musicians has performed together at many local and international venues including the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, in Central Park in Manhattan, and in concert series presented by Carnegie Hall.
The band’s leader Pablo Mayor, originally from Colombia, founded the group in 2002.
“The interesting thing about the group is that we all have different minds,” Mayor said. “There is Colombian music played with traditional drum [rhythms] that have been in the folklore for centuries; and on the other side, there are jazz musicians. Mixing those two sounds has really created the sound of the band.”
But Mayor is not the first to fuse South American folk music with modern jazz.
“Many people have done this,” Mayor said. “My fresh element that I wanted to have in the music was to incorporate the jazz element, but not to lose the rhythms – to make it danceable. Some people just like to listen to the band; some people listen and want to dance.”
“The interesting thing about the group is that we all have different minds.” – Pablo Mayor
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“You can find the euphonium in marching bands,” Mayor said. “But it’s kind of a traditional instrument in Colombia that is heavily used in popular music.”
To climb a mountain
For Mayor, the best thing about Colombian music is the abundance of musical traditions in the region.
“One of the reasons why I found myself focusing on Colombian rhythms is because there is not only one,” Mayor said. “It’s a country rich in musical traditions. You can hear a lot of music from the Carribbean and from the Andes Mountains.”
According to Mayor, the Andes Mountains, which run through the country, geographically separated the communities centuries ago, allowing them to develop distinct musical traditions.
“Even though it seems like a small country,” Mayor said, “the fact that the Andes divided the small towns and cities has produced different cultures in different regions. Now, with cars and airplanes it is very different, but back then you had to walk really hard to climb a mountain.”
One of the most famous Colombian musical traditions is called Cumbia, a fast-paced style often accompanied by dance.
Stay together for the music
Mayor admits it is sometimes hard to keep a group of 12 together, but he said that it is important to keep the same musicians playing together.
“Music is always a process and a journey,” Mayor said, “and we almost always keep the same players moving along the same path. It’s especially hard to keep the same musicians in New York, but our band pretty much remains the same. We love playing together and making this sound.”
For more information on Folklore Urbano, visit the band’s website: www.folkloreurbano.com.
When and where
All performances for Summer Concerts on the Hudson begin at 7 p.m. in Lincoln Harbor in Weehawken. The public is requested to bring a lawn chair or blanket and encouraged to pack a picnic and enjoy the great music and magnificent view of Manhattan. In case of rain or inclement weather, the concert will be rescheduled for the following evening at the same time. The Hudson Reporter Newspaper is a sponsor. For more information, please visit hrpac.org.
Sean Allocca can be reached at editorial@hudsonreporter.com