The Colombian rhythms behind Encanto’s viral soundtrack

Then there’s Vallento (“from the valley”), which also wears its Spanish and West African influences, but hails from Colombia’s northern coast. Encanto’s opening-song The Family Madrigal is a radio-friendly instance of a Vallenato tune, with Colombian folk instruments these types of as accordion, caja vallenata and guacharaca working in joyous harmony. (If you are looking for a a lot less Disney-fied, but even now modern, example of Vallenato, check out out Carlos Vives on Spotify).

Let’s head to Colombia’s East Coast, exactly where you’ll discover Joropo, which tells tales of the stunning rural lands of the LLano location in a quickly-paced musical type that resembles a waltz, with harps, cuatros and bandolas. From the Pacific Coast, Currulao is a style with solid African roots and wild percussive instrumentation, from bamboo xylophones to thumping bass drums. The Andean Highlands? Bambuco, a fusion of Spanish and Indigenous types with tambourines, flutes and a small 12-string guitar identified as a tiple.

You get the notion. No matter where by you head to in Colombia, you are going to obtain a stunning medley of Indigenous, European and African audio, played with rhythmic attractiveness on an array of brilliant instruments you don’t get to listen to each individual day. So, guaranteed. It may well have taken a slightly saccharine Disney soundtrack for global charts to pay out notice. But now the total world is waking up to the quite a few rhythms of Colombia. And we believe it is about time.