Malpaís is one of the most successful efforts by a Costa Rican group to fuse traditional and popular music, and to enrich this fusion with elements of jazz and rock. This doesn’t happen over night: it comes from a slow process, a reclamation of roots distilled in the province of Guanacaste, on the border with Nicaragua – “más al norte del recuerdo”...
Learn More »Malpaís is one of the most successful efforts by a Costa Rican group to fuse traditional and popular music, and to enrich this fusion with elements of jazz and rock. This doesn’t happen over night: it comes from a slow process, a reclamation of roots distilled in the province of Guanacaste, on the border with Nicaragua – “más al norte del recuerdo” (“North of Memory”) – but without rejecting the urban cosmovision and transformations of Latin American song over the past three decades.
Their debut CD, “Uno” has sold over 10,000 copies in Costa Rica alone, an astonishing accomplishment for any non-commercial band in Central America, and the attendance of audiences of all ages to Malpaís´s concerts keeps growing and growing.
Uno is made up of 11 songs that have managed to tap into the audience´s sensibility and to establish a very emotional relationship with them. The songs all include straightforward and enjoyable contemporary music and poetic lyrics blend into an innovative combination that has fascinated the public. Elements from Latin jazz, nostalgic acoustic song, Costa Rican folk genres and classic Latin rhythms are played with an original array of instruments, which makes Uno an amazing piece of contemporary art.
Uno focuses on the deep nostalgia Costa Rican feel for the loss of their small town life, contact with nature and a simple existance. As the song “Boceto para Esperanza” says: “Back when the air had traces of blue, and the backyard could fit all the existing light. Take me, grandmother, where I can sleep. If you´re going back, take me there”.
This longing for the past is a recurring theme in their songs. Another example is the song “Como un pájaro”: “And then I was again a little boy, running through the open plain. Crazed and shirtless I got lost in the summer in the dusty roads. I know you may not remember the blooming flowers or that fire, I know sometimes I look back, but it´s only to find out where I´m coming from.” These are the songs thousands of Costa Ricans have been singing passionately, also attempting to undestrand better where they´re coming from. The disk Uno has surely won a space in Costa Rica´s musical history.
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