Colombia’s Version Of The Didgeridoo My second assignment with The City Paper was to interview a group of musicians from the northern part of Colombia. Apparently the lead singer was around 80. My first piece of research on the group was to do a YouTube search for Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto. I clicked on the first video. The group seemed to be centered around mostly young guys, but the lead singer was definitely getting up there in the years. Later that day, I would meet the lead singer in person at a club where he was scheduled to perform. Walking through an upscale restaurant named La Puerta Grande was very impressive. The tables had benches made from mosaics that looked similar to Dali’s Children’s Park in Barcelona. The tables were made from antique wood and all set up nicely with folded linen napkins on top. I went through a curtain in the back part of the restaurant where the stage was set up. There I met the lead singer. He first started to talk with me about life on the farm: Life on the farm is simple. You wake up early every morning in the lively countryside in the middle of the savannah. At 5am you go outside to water your crop, then you spend a calm day walking through the savannah. When the livestock mooes, you sing to entertain yourself. You then take a trip to Campo Alegre (the happy field). You are sure before you leave not to leave your love behind. You live in the country with your wife. She is the woman who counsels you when you have hardships and difficulties. Juan Chuchita Fernández grew up on the Northern coast of Colombia, in a town called San Jacinto, playing the gaita (native instrument that is half didgeridoo and half flute). By age 82, he has travelled the world on tour through Japan, Greece and Africa, playing 14-song sets once a week, starred in his own music video and enjoyed a double shot of Old Parr whiskey before each of his shows. He had also proved to himself and the world that music has no boundaries by sharing the stage with Puerto Rican rap group Calle 13 and Latin Pop Star Fonseca. The members in his band, Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, dedicate a portion of their free time teaching young handicapped children how to play the gaita, thus passing on their passion to the next generation and leaving their legacy in the hearts and minds of many generations of Colombians. As a young boy in San Jacinto, Chuchita, never dreamed so many doors would open for him in life. He also never envisioned he would travel the world as the lead singer for Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto and be able to raise his hat and be welcomed warmly in countries from Brazil to China. Of course he would have never considered the possibility that his band would win the 2007 LATIN GRAMMY Award for Best Folk Album or that he would win the Life and Work prize from the Colombian Ministry of Culture. Life is not always predictable. The band started out playing in Corralejas (these are outdoor festivals that last many days and involve music, dancing and drinking). During these shows, hundreds of gaitero groups would line the streets, forming long parade lines. The women not dancing would stand around the plaza with candles. The dancers would gather and dance around the women as the gaiteros played. When one of the gaiteros would get tired, another would come in and replace him. The groups would then give away free bread to the women who danced to their music. The party would last so long that the next day, there would be so much wax from the candles on the ground that the donkeys would slip and fall as they entered the plaza. It was anyone’s guess where the band members would wake up the following morning. Chuchita’s experience playing at these informal festivals led to an offer to join the band of Andres Landero, an accordion legend known as the “King of Cumbia.” Chuchita spent several years playing in Landero’s band. During his time with the King of Cumbia, Chuchita sharpened his compositional skills by contributing lyrics to Landero’s music. There is one song in particular that Chuchita vividly remembers composing. “We were going to visit some girls who lived in the mountains. We put Andres’ accordion in a bag, strapped it to a donkey and drank aguardiente [an anise-flavored Colombian liquor] as we walked. We were listening to the songs of the birds and Andres would ask me the names of the birds. I would tell him and he put the verses together as we walked along.” This was the beginning to Chuchita’s ascent to becoming one of the most famous musicians in Colombia. “I haven’t been afraid of anyone. I am not afraid of planes and I am not afraid of the public,” declared Chuchita when asked about how he likes being on stage. He was then asked what he does nowadays when he goes back home. “When I am in San Jacinto, I wake up at 5.30am every morning and sweep the floor.” Los Gaiteros have written over 200 songs. When Chuchita was asked where he writes down the lyrics to each song, he replied, “They are all in my head. It never gets erased.” “When will you retire?” I inquired. “As long as we are healthy we will continue with this,” replied Chuchita. “Grab the mango, pull the yucca, there is nothing artificial about it. I am not a lazy man, I have my virtue, I have a checkered shirt. I arrived to a pumpkin patch, my heart lit up. I know how to create sound,” added Chuchita for further clarification. “How has music changed your life?” I asked Chuchita. “I have enough corn that I can throw it in the fireplace. When I come home (to San Jacinto), I have money in my pocket.” The latest release from Los Gaiteros gives praise to Colombia’s pre-colonial past. It is simply called, Así Tocan Los Indios or “This is How The Indians Play.” The fourth track on the CD is a song dedicated to Chuchita’s wife. The song is called, La Cumbia de Arnulfa Helena. In this song, Chuchita sings about how thankful he is for having 10 children with a wonderful wife which he will never forget. Chuchita now has 36 grandchildren. The original sounds of Cumbia music got their inspiration from the sounds around the small ranches in San Jacinto. Later, Miguel Antonio Hernandez Vasquez (uncle of Chuchita), set lyrics to these sounds and became the founder of Cumbia music. Not to be confused with the Galician or Scottish Bagpipes (also called Gaita in Spanish), the Colombian gaita has a very elaborate fabrication process from basic materials that are found in the warm parts of Northern Colombia. Making a gaita is done as follows: first you must find a 3 foot high, slender tree growing out of the ground. You chop the tree down and chisel out the fleshy middle of the tree. You are then left with a 3 foot long hallow shaft, with a large opening at the top. The next step is to cut out five finger holes. Then you must mix African bees’ wax and coal dust into a putty. You then apply this putty to the top part of the instrument to seal off the opening on the top. A few decades back, the gaiteros, would insert a reed into the wet mix for the mouthpiece. Nowadays it is common to use a regular plastic straw. After the putty dries you then have a gaita. The fact that this group has persisted with line-ups that include several generations of musicians speaks to the liveliness of this tradition and answers the call to “things of destiny.” Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto are a musical jewel in Colombia and abroad and a huge influence for other gaita musicians throughout Colombia. Through their lifetime of compositions and teaching young musicians, The Gaiteros are a vital link between the old traditions of gaita music and its recent renewal. Thanks in great part to the Gaiteros’ music, gaita music has become one of the most influential traditional genres of music in modern Colombia that continues to prosper with no signs of letting up. * After I told my girlfriend about the interview she asked me one question, “What is the lead singer’s name?” “Chuchita,” I replied. “Are you sure?” “Yes, why?” “In the north of Colombia Chuchita means ‘ass.’” I quickly went online to make sure that the guy wasn’t playing a game with a gringo reporter. I found a copy of a recent concert flyer and on the cover they had his name spelled, “C-H-U-C-H-I-T-A.”
Posted on: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 06:22:10 +0000