"Think of Colombian music and the immediate styles that come to mind are cumbia, the lumbering, heavy rhythm from the coastal regions, and the flashy virtuosity of salsa. But the country is known as the land of a thousand rhythms, and far from the coast on the Orinoco plains near the border with Venezuela, the music that holds the reins is joropo, a genre popular with the cowboys who live and work there.
Cimarrón, perhaps the best-known joropo band, was founded more than two decades ago by the harpist Carlos Cuco Rojas and the singer Ana Veydó. The band has enjoyed a storied career, with several awards, Grammy nominations and collaborations with musicians including the Welsh harpist Catrin Finch.
Cuco Rojas died in 2020, leaving Veydó a widow. On La Recia — which means “tough woman” — she fully takes on the leadership of the band. Cuco Rojas is represented here by “Cuco en el Arpa”, an improvisation for harp recorded before his death but, elsewhere, this is still recognisably a Cimarrón album, full of driving rhythms and handclaps, flamboyant harp-and-guitar showcases and Veydó’s gutsy, trilling singing, but with an extra feminist twist." - David Honigmann, ft.com, 10.6.2022
