El León Pardo – Viaje Sideral

Cosmic gaita music from Cartagena trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist El León Pardo, Viaje Sideral (“Space Voyage”) centers around the kuisi, a pre-Colombian flute that is central to the indigenous musical heritage of the southwestern Caribbean coast of Colombia. While the music here is very much rooted in folkloric traditions, El León Pardo brings these sounds to the contemporary and astral planes by blending traditional melodies and rhythms with the psychedelia of 70s and 80s tropical Caribbean music, artists like Terry Riley, Kraftwerk and Mad Professor, as well as ambient and electronic music. The title track hits on a sort of astral jazz meets banda with synthesizers opening into vocals from Edson Velandia, percussive grooves, and El León Pardo’s trumpet swirling through the cosmos.