/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/MUSIC-CENTRAL AMERICA: A Piano Serves as an Integrating Force

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Néfer Muñoz

SAN JOSE, Mar 5 2002 (IPS) - Costa Rican pianist Manuel Obregón achieved in a few days what Central American governments have failed to do after decades: achieve regional integration. And he did so by creating the Papaya Orchestra, the first group dedicated to the region’s folk music.

Obregón, a renowned researcher as well as promoter of contemporary music and of the fusion of jazz with regional folk music, called together 13 musicians from the countries of the isthmus to combine Mayan rhythms from Guatemala with songs of the African Garífuna communities of Honduras with the Nicaraguan marimbas, among other styles.

The Papaya Orchestra, which made its debut late last month in a series of concerts in Costa Rica, originated on Jan 21 when Obregón told a production company about his desire to start the group as a non-profit venture.

The initiative was well received and in a few days he had gathered in Costa Rica the prominent leaders in Central American folk music and musicians from Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

The concerts in San José were just the beginning of the orchestra’s career. The group already has two tours planned, the first starts in Panama in March, and the second in Italy in June.

“This is a Central American orchestra that has been founded upon tradition, but with a modern outlook,” the 41-year-old pianist told IPS.

The Papaya Orchestra also integrates “kungo”, music from Belize, the classical piano styles of Costa Rica, tunes originating in El Salvador, and the Panamanian accordion.

“In spite of the wars, the earthquakes and poverty, Central America is one of the world’s richest areas as far as musical production,” he said.

Paradoxically, Central American music is little known in the international arena and is usually absent from the world’s major music festivals, added the musician.

“That is why we want to transcend political borders and make our artistic wealth known.”

Obregón admits that the idea to put together a Central American musical group had been tossed around for several years, but nobody took the risk of actually going through with it. “That’s why when I proposed this project, everyone immediately accepted,” he said.

In addition to Costa Rica’s Obregón, the group includes Nicaraguans Marcos, Yader and Domingo Martínez; Guatemala’s Lenín Fernández; David Obi and Mohobud Flores from Belize; Salvadoran “El Chele” Menjívar; Panamanians Ornelis Cortés, Raúl Vital, Antonio de la Cruz and Miguel Angel Leguisamo; and Hondurans Juan Astor Norales and Ramón Eduardo Cedeño.

Obregón already knew most of the musicians personally, but invited several others based on recommendations from friends in the business. As such, many of the musicians met for the first time when they reached San José.

They hid themselves away at a mountain retreat for several weeks to fully dedicate themselves to figuring out how they fit together musically and to compose new works for the band.

The result of the experiment has been an innovative sound that showcases the best of regional folk music, but with contemporary touches. The members of the band say the objective is to defend their cultural identity from the homogenising process of globalisation.

“We live under intense musical bombardment. We are more familiar with the songs of Jennifer López (the U.S.-Puerto Rican actress) than we are with the musical wonders that are coming out of Nicaragua,” lamented Obregón.

The members of the Papaya Orchestra are ignoring any political differences they might have, differences that characterise Central America and are largely the result of the fact that it is one of the world’s regions with greatest social inequalities.

The seven Central American nations, several of which are embroiled in border disputes, cover a total area of 523,000 square km, home to 36 million people, with most living in poverty.

“The barriers are political, not social. You discover this by travelling the length of the isthmus. The politicians are the ones who disagree, not the people,” stated the pianist.

The members of the band maintain that the music they have created captures a diversity of feelings representative of the region, ranging from euphoria to melancholy.

Marcos, Yader and Domingo Martínez – father, son and cousin – are the musical stars of the serenade of marimbas known as “Nicaragua Mía”.

Representing Guatemala is percussionist Lenín Fernández, a Mayan music researcher who for 14 years was the drummer for the rock group Alux Nahual.

“This is a musical experience never seen before in Central America,” Fernández told IPS, pointing out that the band’s repertoire includes an original piece by each one of its members.

The percussionist added that playing in a conventional musical group can become monotonous, which is more like “doing exercises” with the instrument, and he grew tired of it. “That’s way I am here, because we are reclaiming our culture and we are creating, and this indeed is music. This is life!”

The name of the group came about when one of the musicians from Belize, singer Obi, founder in his country of the “kungo” beat, performed a song in English during a practice session.

To some of the members of the chorus, a word he repeated sounded very much like “papaya” and they began to sing along with him, inserting “papaya” as a joke.

After that incident, they decided to adopt it for the name of the group, liking the colourful nature of the word itself and the fact that it is a tropical fruit that is grown throughout Central America.

“The music we play is a trip through Central America, and through all its sentiments,” said Honduran musician Cedeño.

The members of the Papaya Orchestra agree that this is both a short- and long-term project, one they intend to use as a channel for taking to many other countries a taste of this little piece of land known as Central America.