The prominent Venezuelan band La Sardina de Naiguatá kicks off a tour of four U.S. cities on June 29 as part of the release of their album “¡Parranda! Venezuelan Carnival Music” on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
The tour is also part of the concert series Venezuelan Sounds 2012, organized by the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the U.S. and sponsored by Chevron Corporation. The first show is planned for June 29 in Washington, DC, at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, where La Sardina de Naiguatá will perform infectious tunes such as “Bandido” and “Volveré.”
The band then heads to Houston’s Miller Outdoor Theater on July 1, and returns to Washington to celebrate Venezuelan Independence Day on July 5. On that day, the band will bring their Afro-Caribbean flavor to the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, and the celebration will then continue on to the Bolivarian Hall, the cultural space of the diplomatic mission in the U.S. capital.
The tour also includes a stop at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival in San Francisco on July 8, as well as performances at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music on July 11 and 13.
Other songs on the new album include “Popurrí Alí Primera” (Alí Primera Medley), a tribute to the Venezuelan folk singer Alí Primera, and “Tambores de Naiguatá” (Drums of Naiguatá), inspired by the drum traditions of Venezuela’s Caribbean coast.
Origins of La Sardina of Naiguatá
La Sardina of Naiguatá is an emblematic Venezuelan band with roots in Carnival and other traditional festivals as well as Caribbean and Afro-Venezuelan drumming.
One of the most popular celebrations in Venezuelan is the “Entierro de la Sardina” (Burial of the Sardine), a tradition in the town of Naiguatá, in the coastal state of Vargas, which stands out for its creativity and uniqueness. From this town and celebration emerged the remarkable group La Sardina de Naiguatá (The Sardine of Naiguatá).
In the 1970s, trumpet player Ricardo Díaz augmented the local legacy of Afro-Caribbean drumming with brass, electric bass, keyboard, and a women’s chorus to create La Sardina de Naiguatá, the musical group that drives the town’s annual cycle of public celebrations, including Carnival, Corpus Christi, and St. John the Baptist.
Their new album, “¡Parranda! Venezuelan Carnival Music,” includes 14 tracks and is the 37th release on the “Tradiciones/Traditions” series of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Listen to previews of the album here. http://www.folkways.si.edu/radio/parranda_preview/index.html
For more information about the shows, click on the link below:
6/29 Smithsonian Folklife Festival National Mall, DC
