Totó La Momposina came to Real World Studios in August 1991 to begin recording what would prove to be her most important album, now re-released on Real World Records as ‘Tambolero’. In this never before seen footage from the original recording session, Totó delivers an outstanding live performance of El Pescador, surrounded by friends and guests. The soundtrack has been restored and remixed and features as a track on the 2015 album ‘Tambolero’.
Singer, dancer and teacher, Totó La Momposina’s entire life has been dedicated to representing the music of Colombia’s Caribbean coastline, where African, Indigenous Indian and Spanish cultures mingle to create a unique musical tradition. ‘Tambolero’, originally released in 1993 as ‘La Candela Viva’, has been re-created and re-imagined for 2015 as part of Real World Records’ Gold series.
A tribute to the fisherman working the coasts and rivers of Colombia. A sense of respect, affection and appreciation is revealed in the words of the hard, yet humble, task of the fisherman, in touch with nature. El Pescador was composed by José Barros, from El Banco, celebrated creator of many well-loved Colombian songs.
It was the beginning of summer 2008, I had just returned home to Lausanne from holiday in Colombia with my girlfriend at the time (half-Swiss, half-Colombian), where we’d been visiting family and discovered wonderful nature spots, amazing food and, of course, music. I did not know a lot about Colombian music and my first contact with this percussive sound was listening to a song called La Tortuga by Joe Arroyo. I loved the rhythmic energy and asked the family for more music with this feel. I was convinced I could try something with the sound and that it might be possible to adapt it for the dance-floor.
Michel Cleis
I was gardening at home in Lausanne when my friend came up to me with La Candela Viva in her hands. She just said: “You should listen to this singer, I’m sure you’ll love her.” That album is responsible for radical changes in my life. Totó’s voice is extraordinary: Love, roots, energy are the three words that come to mind thinking about her music. There is something really fresh there and so close to nature somehow – really different compared to most of the music I had listened to before.
Back in my studio, I listened carefully to the album, looking for percussive ideas and sensing that there might be even more there. I don’t know what kind of magic occurred in those sessions: rhythms, harmonies and notes were coming together really fast – which is a big deal for me – and, in around 14 days, my tune, La Mezcla, was born.
At that time I was already working with the Swiss-Chilean DJ and record-label owner Luciano, so I sent him the track. I remember he wrote back from Romania the next day telling me he’d played it 3 times in his set and it drove people crazy. The track continued to be hugely successful across the whole underground scene during the summer of 2008. In 2009 it became the track of the Miami Music Conference, then track of the summer season 2009 in Ibiza and, finally, became an international crossover hit.
Totó La Momposina y sus Tambores, 2015 – Tambolero
You don’t normally get the chance to go back in time and recreate an album. Building on a classic project that began 24 years ago is a challenge and a delight.
In 2009, the Swiss producer Michel Cleis released a house tune called La Mezcla, which featured two samples from Toto La Momposina’s album La Candela Viva. The track took off and his label, Cadenza, requested access to the multi-tracks so they could produce extra mixes. It was agreed and John Hollis (producer and now son-in-law of Toto) came to Real World Studios to seek out El Pescador and Curura, which meant locating the original 2 inch tapes from 1991 and 1992.
Hollis had been at those original sessions, and had often thought of one day revisiting them, but that summer day in 2009 when he listened to the recordings it was an experience that took him completely by surprise. “I was in the very room we had worked in during the 1992 sessions and when Greg, the engineer, pressed play and brought up the faders the sound was amazing. For me it was a deeply emotional moment; the presence of the musicians in performance was surreal, it felt like they were in the room, that the music had been made both just then and long ago. What’s more, I could now speak Spanish, understand their comments and laugh at their jokes. Apart from the album tracks selected at the time, we had all forgotten what had been recorded and I discovered a treasure trove of material.”
Marco V. Oyaga, Gilberto Martinez, Totó, Paulino Salgado (Batata), Julio Renteria
It was agreed at the time that it would be great to do something with the wealth of music sitting in the cupboard but at that point there was no clear idea what. Five years later, the moment arrived and a plan was formulated. The deeper everyone went into the project the more profound it became and the result is a reimagining of an album that was already special. It has also become a celebration of Totó’s career, which will soon reach a landmark 60 years – six decades dedicated to preserving, researching and developing an ancestral tradition, the identity of a people, passed down through the generations. La Candela Viva helped kick-start Totó’s international career and became a significant album for many, especially in Colombia, where she inspired a generation to embrace a culture long neglected by the mainstream.
Totó – Photo Kevin Clifford
The first job was to bake the tapes to remove any moisture that had accumulated on them, making them playable again so that the recordings could be digitised and worked on with modern technology. There were no track listings or notes, so Hollis ended up going through everything – some 20 tracks and 40 takes.
That process threw up some real gems. At this point it occurred to John Hollis that Totó’s granddaughters would add a nice texture to some of the chorus lines and Totó happily agreed: “Claro, ellos son mis coristas! [of course, they are my backing singers].” Shortly after, Maria del Mar and Oriana Melissa entered The Wood Room studio, the very same space in which Totó and her band performed their set live 23 years earlier. Maria was present, a toddler at the time, and Oriana hadn’t been born. It was the second surreal moment and they delivered their parts beautifully. “I couldn’t resist the opportunity to drop double-bass into the sexteto songs, so we sent the tracks to Colombia, where Totó’s son, Marco Vinicio, went into the studio with Nestor Vanegas, the band’s current bassist. They added some lovely bass parts and now those tunes groove and breathe with fresh flair.”
Oriana Melissa – Photo: York Tillyer
Maria del Mar – Photo: York Tillyer
Positive input from the original engineers, Dickie Chappell and Richard Blair, was invaluable and Peter Gabriel allowed the use of his personal studio for the work to be done in. Buoyed by this support, engineer Oli Jacobs and Hollis began mixing the recordings. The aim was to liberate the sound in a way not possible in 1992. The key to it all; unlocking the sound of Totó’s musicians’ drums. The beautiful tambores from the Caribbean coast of Colombia carry a rich range of frequencies, delivering an awesome sound. Hollis again “I wanted warm, bass-heavy colours from the heart of the wood and the crisp slap at the top edge of the skin. On these recordings the tambores are played by masters of the art and include the legendary drummer Batata. Hailing from an Afro-Colombian lineage, Batata was a key musician who worked alongside Totó and her family for many years. He has since passed and this album is imbued with the wonderful feel of his performance and presence. In tribute to him and the tradition championed by Totó for so long and in such an inspiring way, we renamed the album “Tambolero.”
David Bottrill, John Hollis, Richard Balir and Totó – Photo: Jeremy Andrews
Reviews
4/5 – This re-creation of her most canonised work is a timely reminder……of what the singer is fully capable of. Read more UK Vibe (UK)
Number 2. European World Music Chart European Broadcasting Union (Europe)
* * * * * An ingenious, and justified, remastering project. Songlines (UK)
Outlook’s Arts Daily slot on the BBC World Servicelisten here BBC World Service (UK)
An amazing well done package and a wonderful CD……with the most amazing music by one of the most important artists in Latin America of all times. <ahref=”http: www.latinosinlondon.com=”” magazine_view.php?id=”250″”>Read more Latinos in London (UK)
* * * * Totó’s rich and powerful voice riding a wave……of propulsive percussion, urged on by her feisty backing singers in the time-honoured call-and-response tradition. Read more The Irish Times (Ireland)
A syncopated, joyful delight you can sink into… … Beautiful and reliant on drums while preserving the indigenous cultures of the Colombian coast. Read more The Guardian (UK)
Can’t get to WOMAD this month? Here’s and armchair – and dance floor-friendly way to catch the Afro-Colombian singer who’s show is almost certain to be one of the highlights…Those declamatory vocals sound as pungent as ever, and the traditional percussion has the raw intensity of a field recording. The Sunday Times (UK)
* * * * (Toto) makes a rare visit to the UK for the WOMAD Festival…With Toto’s commanding voice backed by a rich variety of drums and percussion, it is earthy, vibrant and supremely danceable. Evening Standard (UK)
* * * * Inspired and life affirming. The Epoch Times (UK)
The CD is an absolute delight. It’s also one of the most handsomely dressed silver discs to come my way in a long time. Coming in hard back book form and packed with photos, commentary and most importantly great songs, it tells the story of what made this music special first time around and why it was also worth revisiting. The results, sounding so fresh and immediate, are to all intents and purposes a whole new record, which pays a fitting tribute to one of Colombian music’s most vivacious stars and the incredible legacy resulting from her original breakthrough. Read more FolkRadio (Online)
Les rythmes haletants des tambours……présents d’un bout à l’autre de l’album, racontent avec clarté l’histoire à l’origine de cette identité. En savoir plus Le Monde (France)
La percussion demeure……prédominante et les flûtes indiennes toujours aussi obsédantes dans ces jaillissements de vitalité joyeusement offerts à l’air et au soleil. En savoir plus Les InRocks (France)
Des inédits et des ajouts de choeurs ……(les petites-filles de la chanteuse de 75 ans) complètent cette nouvelle version, qui magnifie sa voix envoûtante et chamanique, mais aussi l’exubérance de son répertoire : des danses à percussion et métissées, où les flûtes andines rencontrent les tambours africains, relatant l’histoire métissée de la Colombie moderne. En savoir plus Livre (France)
La Momposina précise……que pour elle le mot “folklore” n’a pas de sens, qu’elle le transforme en « conflor (avec des fleurs) ce qui signifie que chaque chanson est une fleur différente. En savoir plus France Culture (France)
Listen to Toto La Momposina perform…with her Grandchildren on BBC Radio 4 – Loose Ends. BBC iPlayer
A commanding album that talks a tale of the ages.Read more The Audiophile Man (Online)
* * * A fresh, attacking set……that provides a reminder of her powerful, compelling voice. Read more The Guardian (UK)
* * * * The mix of percussion and voices emanates a joie de vivre that is vibrant and expressive as are lyrics like those of Dos de Febrero, which challenges single-motherhood taboos. Read more… The Morning Star (UK)
Real World Studios engineer Oli Jacobs describes the process of saving and restoring a classic album recorded 24 years ago:
My journey into the world of Colombian artist Totó La Momposina started when our technician, Jamie Neale, and I transferred the 24-track analogue tapes into the digital domain. We normally bake old tapes in a laboratory oven at 60 degrees Celsius for three or four days to help solve a problem known as ‘sticky-shed syndrome’. When tapes are stored for a long period of time, the binding that holds the magnetic particles to the plastic begins to break down. Baking the tapes temporarily removes the moisture, resetting the glue binding and making the tape playable for a few weeks. Failure to carry out this process could have resulted in the tape breaking when played and the recordings could have been lost forever.
We transferred the audio using our Studer A820 24-track tape machine in The Big Room at Real World Studios into ProTools using the latest Avid HD converters at 96kHz/24bit.
Now that the audio was in the digital domain producer John Hollis sifted through hours of the original recordings and we were able to edit and manipulate it in ways that were previously not possible. For example, on one of the tracks, ‘Adios Fulana’, some of the drum rhythms were a little out of time and this may have been the reason this version of the song was not on the original album – but now it has made it.
Producer: John Hollis with daughters Maria del Mar and Oriana Melissa.
John had the amazing idea to bring in Totó’s granddaughters, Oriana and Maria, to add some additional backing vocals to key songs. We recorded them in The Wood Room at Real World Studios, just as their grandmother recorded the original album 24 years before. It was an amazing moment, especially given the likeness of Oriana’s voice to Totó’s.
The original engineers who worked on the session – Richard Chappell (now Peter Gabriel’s engineer) and Richard Blair (who now works as a producer in Colombia) were consultants on the new version – it was fantastic to bring the team back together.
Maria del Mar
Oriana Melissa
High-quality audio was our number one priority from the start, especially as this album is a release for B&W’s Society of Sound. We know (hope) people listening to the record are listening on great sounding systems. That’s a bit scary as an engineer, but also quite nice as we know we don’t have to worry as much about making it ‘loud’ or making it sound good on bad speakers.
There are two distinct ‘sounds’ on the record, which was recorded in two different years – 1991 and 1992. The tracks recorded in 1991 consist of everyone playing together in a room with an audience. There is a lot of spill, and the mix was more about balancing the room and trying to keep everything under control. The tracks recorded in1992 allowed a completely different approach. They were recorded in a different space at Real World with far more isolation between the performers. With these, I had the chance to play around a bit more with effects without having to worry so much about spill.
UAD plugins are probably the most commonly used in the mix. I used the LA-2A plugins extensively together with the EMT140 plate, 1176 and even a bit of the AMS RMX-16 reverb. I think the Harrison EQ set is great and this, together with the Pultec EQP-1A, is the most commonly used equalisation on the mix.
The MoreVox plugin was used to create an artificial room on some of the drums from 1992. Without it, the drums sounded a bit dead; and the ability to manipulate the reverb so freely was a great advantage.
Altiverb provides a lovely sounding EMT 250 plate emulation, which is the reverb on the majority of the vocals. Some of the vocals also have the Eventide H3000 with some sneaky delay effects.
PSP mix saturator is a great tool which I used a lot to add some more low end into the drums, without muddying the mix.
I used a few pieces of hardware outboard. There was an LA-2A on the lead vocal when needed, and Distressor EL-8 compressors fairly extensively across the tambores drums.
Available from today on Bowers & Wilkins Society of Sound is the album ’Tambolero’ by long-time Real World Records artist Totó la Momposina y Sus Tambores.
“Inspiration comes not only from performing these songs, but from feeling part of this living heritage” Immerse yourself in that heritage at www.bowers-wilkins.co.uk/totolamomposina
