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Happy Colombian Independence Day: July 20
For the occasion, some of my favorite salsas, which are devoted to Colombian cities: Yo Me Voy pa’ Cali by Oscar DeLeon Ven a Medellin by Grupo Gale En Barranquilla Me Quedo by Joe Arroyo
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DON’T MISS IT: ONDATRÓPICA in NYC on July 27
Photo via Soundway Records Words cannot explain how EXCITED I am for this Friday, July 27, in New York City! Ondatrópica will be making their US debut at the Lincoln Center Out Of Doors Festival at the...
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Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto & Geko Jones at LPR
Masters of Colombian folkloric cumbia, Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, played Le Poisson Rouge on July 26 and it was a thing of beauty. Lead singer Juan “Chuchita” Fernández may be in his 80s, but he...
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Ondatropica at Lincoln Center ‘Out of Doors’
Photo by Gina Vergel Ondatrópica made its US debut at the Lincoln Center Out Of Doors Festival on July 27 and it was awesome, mostly because I was able to shoot photos right up front. Read Jon Pareles’...
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Hip Hop: Saving lives in Colombia
Via the Seattle Globalist. MEDELLIN, Colombia–Henry Arteaga could have been a drug dealer. Growing up during the 1990s in Aranjuez, long one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Medellin, Arteaga...
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M.A.K.U. SoundSystem brings music of Colombia by way of Jackson Heights
Photo via Daily News It’s always good to read stories of your favorite bands in NYC newspapers! By Jim Farber of the N.Y. Daily News People can travel many miles before they find their true selves....
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The connection between Tampa, Fl., and Barranquilla, Colombia
Barranquilla Mayor Elsa Noguera De La Espriella and Tampa’s Bob Buckhorn. (Image courtesy of the city of Tampa.) I keep up on general news (especially music-related) coming out of Barranquilla,...
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My latest on ‘Sounds and Colours’
I wanted to share a couple of recent posts I wrote for the London, England,-based Sounds and Colours, a music and culture magazine that focuses on Latin America. SOAP OPERA RELIVES COLOMBIAN SOCCER...
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A word about demographics and missed opportunities
Screen shot of the sad and lonely Spanish-language option by me. I don’t purport to know very much about running a business. Aside from deciding whether I want to take on public relations work on a...
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Video: ‘La Peligrosa’ by Martina La Peligrosa
Martina La Peligrosa Story by me via Sounds and Colours: You never know what you’re going to find when conducting a random search on social media. Case in point: I recently typed #champeta into...
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Unexpected pairing: Colombian carnival & Ronzo’s street art
Ronzo & a police officer in Bogotà. Pic via his Instagram. Colombia’s carnival, held in my parents’ hometown of Barranquilla, is upon us. For what to expect, check out these posts I wrote for...
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New TV obsession: ‘La Viuda Negra’
So… I’m of Colombian descent (first generation American), and the whole Pablo Escobar-the-drug-lord thing has always been fascinating to me. That’s fascinating, as in I find it interesting; not that...
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Storify: Barranquilla, Colombia’s Carnival
I recently wrote a piece for Sounds and Colours in hopes of transporting readers to the Carnival in Barranquilla, Colombia. It contains great music, so check it out here! I’m also compiling a Storify...
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Great #Colombian music mix!
Great music mix by DJ Cal Jader, but this isn’t just any Colombian music mix. It’s NUEVA musica de Colombia. So get your “modern Colombian” (global bass and more) on by listening below via Mixcloud....
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El Freaky to open for One Direction
My friends from El Freaky Colectivo are no strangers to playing big concerts. Last October, they served as the only Colombian performers to open for Justin Bieber at the Nemesio Camacho stadium in...
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Amazing illustrations by Colombian artist, Paola Escobar
Paola Escobar Paola Escobar is a graphic artist who lives and works at an advertising agency in Bogotá, Colombia. My friends over at Colombian art and culture site, Bacánika, turned me onto Escobar...
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Celebrating my dad: ‘a tough guy, a smooth talker, a brave man and an...
My dad, Virgilio Vergel. Having an illness or being close to death is not a competition, but as my father’s Parkinson’s disease progresses to a point where he can no longer safely swallow food or...
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Marimba music is Intangible Heritage of Colombia and Ecuador
Herencia de Timbiqui Marimba music from Colombia’s South Pacific region and Ecuador’s Esmeralda province have been declared “intangible heritage” by Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific...
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Colombia’s Monsieur Periné & L.A.’s Buyepongo to play free concert in Philly!
Two of today’s most acclaimed Latin music groups, Monsieur Periné and Buyepongo, will play a free, all-ages concert on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 8pm at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. The concert, which...
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My father, Virgilio Vergel, 73
Virgilio Vergel always wore a smile. For as long as I can remember, my father always loved to make others smile. Armed with jokes, song lyrics with dance moves, imitations of characters, or funny...
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