WOMAD

Antonio Rivas

From Colombia

The Spanish legacy to South American music includes the accordion, which was used in Colombia by oral historians, who would play tunes on it while imparting the latest news to villagers. From these roots grew the style known as vallenato, a gentle, tuneful music from the country's Atlantic coast. Antonio Rivas, now resident in France, uses the accordion, guacharaca (bamboo scraper) and drums of traditional vallenato bands, spicing the sound with bass guitar and extra percussion. Vallenato has four basic tempos, ranging from a slow style where the muted rhythm allows the lyrics to come to the fore, to the puya - a frantic style which allows the musicians to fire on all cylinders. Rivas is an accordion virtuoso, absurdly nimble-fingered, who, when not leading his band, is studying for a doctorate in nuclear physics. Let him accelerate your particles this weekend.