Everybody say Biiiiiaaattccch!!! The church of Afromama turns eight this month!
DJ Nonamz is in charge of Hip-Hop on the decks, every Sunday night at Makena.
On the whole, Argentina is not generally well known for much music outside of Tango. Sad, but true.
In a foreigner’s mind, Argentina = south America = it might be Brazil, no wait, they speak Portuguese, oh wait, Argentina has Tango, that must be Spanish, right? (I could take the joke further, but I think you get it).
Tango, tango, tango.
Obviously if you live here, have lived here or have been here on holiday, you are more advanced in Argentine music and what really goes/went on. Yes. Charly, Spinetta, etc.
Even Argentines know about all of those people. 🙂 they are local icons.
What tends to not be happening though, is that locals pay attention to the young generation of pro musicians and what’s going on in the live music circuit. Particularly in the world of “black music.”
Yes, what British English very politically correctly calls “music of black origin” — aka MOBO — is very popular in Argentina.
Eight years ago, some lovely young musicians and djs created a MOBO jam and eventually it landed at Makena Cantina Club in Palermo. Since then it has become a thriving hotspot and mekka for young musicians, artists, dancers and rappers battling it out every Sunday night.
The 8 year anniversary is to be celebrated throughout September.
On the eighth anniversary of the Afromama Jam, Buenos Aires’ biggest homage to African American music, Argentine Arts caught up with DJ Lenni Funk, one of the nights founders to go back to the roots of a live music event which is now the factory of a new generation of Argentine soul stars at Makena Cantina Bar.
“It all started out of love for music of black origin” — DJ Lenni Funk
German Vidal (L) and DJ Lenni Funk (R), the founders of the AfroMama jam.
How did the Afromama night start? Who founded it and why?
It all started out of love for music of black origin. We created the jam with friends and after, a friend invited me to take it to back yard of my friend Alfredo Segatori’s bar in San Telmo.
How would you sum up this event?
It’s a massive party with a live band and a big dance floor, for those that have dampened down their egos, opened their minds and are truly free.
How do you feel eight years later and what would you like for the future?
Argentine singer Felipe Herrera in action at Makena Cantina Club in Palermo, Buenos Aires.
I am very happy that all of this is happening. Really, it’s all my brother German’s fault. He put a lot of love into the event from the start and took it down a really great road. It could be said that, without him and others, the night would not exist. As for the future, it’s something that we are never going to reach mentally. We live in the present and we fight day-by-day for this unique night of ours.
—
The jam session starts every Sunday at midnight with its fixed band and singers. The current lead singer of the jam is Lucas Finocchi, member of the AfroSound gospel choir and artist/rapper of Vinilo Key.
Makena also hosts a bunch of other MOBO events on different days, which have included performances by Stylo Caro, Felipe Herrera, Vinilo Key, Picky, Brown Sugar, Lucas Finocchi, DJ Nonamz, DJ Lenni Funk himself, AfroSound Gospel Singers, and many more.
If you’ve never been there, check it out. If you live abroad and want to listen to Argentine artists, check out these people on Youtube, and/or keep reading Argentine Arts 🙂 we have the info.
Just when you thought Christian music in Latin America might only be made up of sweetly-sung, straight line, old-school harmony… boom! Someone comes and changes it up. Argentine Arts often speaks a lot about the influence of gospel music in Argentina, however it’s important to mention another well-loved African-American genre in the land of tango and rock: jazz and blues.
The first of many shows to come.
What came to pass last Monday in La Usina del Arte – one of BA’s newest, biggest and best music venues — was a wonderful mix of gospel, jazz and blues with an added pinch of bossa for good measure.
Labelled, “La Misa en Jazz” (The mass in jazz, or less literally put: Jazz mass), the musical works were put together by a talented drummer named Miguel Castellarin, with the help of his big band and a choral team.
Castellarin chose a group of six traditional mass hymns, rearranged them and turned them into something totally different.
Here’s an example of what some of the original mass music sounds like: –
Here’s the song with the same title, but a totally new approach: –
Not quite the same, right?
Castellarin is said to have put the works together to mark the progression of his faith and as a way of giving thanks to God for his life.
Jose Martin Aspiazu (L) and Miguel Castellarin (R) pictured on stage at the Usina del Arte in Buenos Aires on June 23rd, 2014.
The project was put into action in 2009 and the road to the final recording and last week’s concert was paved with famous faces including blues guitarrist Daniel Raffo and the Pope.
In 2012, the musical works were shown to the then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, aka the Pope. Bergoglio was said to have loved what he heard, being a fan of jazz music, in particular the work of artists like Benny Goodman. According to television station TN, the Pope said at the time “this should be being played live already.”
Two years later, it took place at BA’s best music venue. Not bad.
Miguel Castellarin Big Band performs alongside the AfroSound Choir at the Usina del Arte in Buenos Aires on June 23rd, 2014.
The show included songs such as Kirie Señor Ten Piedad (Blues), Gloria (Latin Jazz), Alleluia (Funk), Credo (Swing Soul), Santo (Swing), Angus Dei – Cordero de Dios (Bossa Nova), all popular mass songs in the Latin American church, but completely changed up.
Finocchi directs the AfroSound Choir at the Usina del Arte in Buenos Aires.
Castellarin, the big band, Aspiazu, Finocchi and Raffo were present in the live show, as well as harmonica player Patricio Danelo and singer Eduardo “ el Vasco “ Bariain. From the AfroSound Choir, Finocchi sang solos as well as gospel tenor Cesar Matias Colman.
The show lit up the lovely Usina, opening the doors to many more possible live performances.
To find out more about the AfroSound Choir, check out their social media sites:
“I feel strong enough to cross the bridge, although the darkness can be felt, I face it without fear.” Valentina Cooke (song: Amor y Miedo).
Album cover of “Amor y Miedo” (2013) by Valentina Cooke.The beauty of the modern age is that we can now choose exactly what we want to listen to. The only downside is that, there’s so much information online that it makes it difficult to know what to pay attention to.
Between that and the fact that major record labels are producing less music of quality and more hi-tech music in quantity; it is all the more difficult to find good stuff. Music just isn’t like it was way back when.
That said, if the music is good and the artists are talented, the fact that you can get your music online can turn into the perfect stepping stone to discovery and success. Argentine Soul/Hip-Hop/R&B lady Valentina Cooke is one of these artists. Her latest album Amor y Miedo (Love and Fear) went live on iTunes and Soundcloud almost a year ago and has seen great initial success online.
I stumbled across Cooke’s music on Soundcloud last year and was completely blown away. After months of listening to her latest album “Amor y Miedo,” I finally got the chance to meet her in person and talk about, well, a little bit of everything.
An inspirational talent: Valentina Cooke. Photo by Melanie Henderson for Argentine Arts.An unconventional musical upbringing
Singer/songwriter, rapper and guitarist, Cooke has been in the professional music game for close to ten years. During that time she’s performed in all of the major music venues in Buenos Aires with numerous famous local artists. Not only that, she was also one of the pioneers of Hip-Hop and R&B music in Argentina, particularly in the capital, starting her own R&B night in San Telmo, before the likes of Makena’s Afromama night existed.
Cooke has been singing for as long as she’s been writing songs, and her musical education comes from a rich and diverse background living in the south of Argentina.
Brought up by a London-born British singer, guitarist and sitar player in El Bolson – a small Patagonian town, located about 200km from Bariloche – her introduction to music in the home, listening to her family.
In terms of her international music education, Cooke listened to a diverse range of artists such as Sting, Concha Buika, Ledisi, Jill Scott, RaĂşl Midon, D’Angelo, Meshell Ndegeocello, Prince, Stevie Wonder, The Roots, Lauryn Hill, Nneka, Erykah Badu, Indie Arie, Sade, Tracy Chapman, The Rolling Stones and Snoop Dogg.
She studied singing with national rock singer Maria Jose Cantillo, someone who gave her an introduction into classical and rock singing, as well as pushing her to pursue her singing further. Later she also studied with Eduardo Jose de Bianco, a classically trained singer.
As for her guitar training, she owes her musical knowledge to her teacher and husband, Gaspar Benegas – lead guitarist to Argentine star el “Indio” Solari and artist in his own right – who gave her the basis of knowledge she needed in order to compose her own music.
Divine inspiration: Argentine guitarist, composer, producer Gaspar Benegas.The fact that she is married to a musician also played a huge part in her making the decision to take her music to a professional level. Benegas co-produced both of Cooke’s albums as well as featuring as a musician on the majority of her tracks.
“Even though my dad and my brothers were musicians, I didn’t become a composer myself until I was 25 years old, which was just after I had my second child.”
The struggle
Many say that the best artists went through the harshest of circumstances. Many times that is the truth. Cooke could never be classed as an average porteña princess, even though she could be mistaken for one by her looks. She moved to Buenos Aires at the age of fifteen alongside Benegas, as a way of escaping her harsh and turbulent upbringing.
She grew up in a marginal area of El Bolson, forty kilometres away from the nearest town. Her parents were very hard-up, which made sustaining an education extremely difficult; replaced by an innate struggle to stay afloat as a family. One out of five children, playing her part in keeping the family alive became apparent from an early age.
“The truth is that we really didn’t have a penny to our name. In my house it was about collecting the wood for the fire, cooking and making sure that there was enough food to be split between six kids. In all honesty, I didn’t have the best time growing up.”
School was a difficult and alien place for Cooke. She went to a school in the middle of the countryside and was bullied for being the little white, blue-eyed blonde girl among the darker skinned, haired kids. For her mother, if she didn’t go to school it was a positive: more hands to help out at home. At the age of six she learned how to cook and by the age of eight she cooked for her brothers and sisters and washed clothes by hand.
“We didn’t have electricity, so we had to make fires and use candles to light up the house at night.”
Valentina Cooke performing in Buenos Aires.“There were six of us. Three girls and three boys. The boys took care of wood collection, whilst the girls made sure the house was in order. There was always a lot to do, as there were eight of us and no money.”
The situation was made worse by the fact that her dad was an alcoholic.
“My dad did try to work as hard as he could, but he slipped up a lot. Many times he would come home with half of the shopping, reeking of alcohol.”
“It was a difficult situation to digest. My mum was a very educated woman, but we were living in very marginal circumstances. Sometimes the difficulties we were experiencing made it hard for her to push us to go to school.”
Although growing up in the south of Argentina was difficult, Cooke underlined the positives of having grown up in a rural area.
“Even though we had next to nothing, I always had a very strong connection with nature. Whenever I was feeling bad about life, I would go for a walk in the woods to clear my head.”
It took some time for the art to be gathered, but her upbringing formed a very strong basis from which Cooke’s inspiration came with regard to her music and lyrics.
The music
Cooke’s music by no means can be classified into one genre. It’s a fusion of Rap, Funk, R&B, Pop, Dubstep and Rock. The cool thing about it is that the style of each song is craftily tailored to the lyrics, which at times go deep into thoughts on human existence, social interaction and Cooke’s own personal story.
Huellas
Growing up in a harsh environment, living on the breadline in the south and raising her own children from an early age have all worked in the making of her music.
Album one: Despertar (2008).
Tracing back to her country girl days, Cooke’s first album shows the visually hippie side to her, but evokes a very fusion-filled sound. Influenced by rappers from the States, such as Snoop Dogg and Eminem, as well as many African American artists from across a range of genres, her sound is a cross between Spanish Rap, Argentine Folklore, Funk and R&B.
Valentina Cooke: a portrait of survival through a troublesome childhood. Courtesy of Valentina Cooke.Album two: Amor y Miedo (2013).
A varied, but more developed sound, the full depth of what she has experienced in her 32 years of life so far starts to shine through in her lyrics in a sometimes brutal reality check.
“I dreamt of death in my mind, smile, the devil no.
Prudent is that who challenges what goes on inside themselves.
I feel strong enough to brave the bridge now that the darkness can be felt I face it without fear.” (Amor y Miedo, 2013).
These days, Cooke is performing, recording and working as a musician and singer alongside her husband, raising their two children in Buenos Aires.
Unsigned (at the moment) her music is available online. Some of her best tracks can be found on her SoundCloud account:
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