De Mar y Río have released a making-of video for “Pescandito”, using it to close their Bailen y Gocen chapter and thank the more than seventy thousand followers who have gathered around their debut album.
The video, posted on the group’s YouTube channel, follows the making of the song, a bunde about the fishermen who head out to sea from Timbiquí. Of all the tracks on Bailen y Gocen, this one speaks most directly to the work that sustains families across the region, and filming its creation draws a line between daily labour and the songs that come from it. Composer Ceferina Gómez from Santa Ana, a small riverside settlement near Timbiquí, is also the main writer on the album. She wrote “Pescandito” from those fishing journeys and “Que Viva Huber” from the day a neighbour called Huber pulled her niece out of the river current, along with several other songs that De Mar y Río perform.
Formed in Cali in 2021, the ensemble brings together young marimba musicians and singers from Timbiquí, Guapi, López de Micay, Iscuandé, El Charco, Buenaventura and Cali itself, working under the musical direction of Felipe Amú, a musician and cultural organiser rooted in Pacific projects. Their debut album Bailen y Gocen was recorded at 312 Récords in Universidad Icesi, Cali, a studio already associated with Latin Grammy recognition. The production links Pacific marimba traditions with an established studio network: executive and musical direction by Amú, musical production by Pacific musician and producer Heriberto Bonilla, engineering by 312 Récords sound specialist Jorge Díaz, mixing by Diego Gómez at Llorona Records, and mastering by US-based engineer Jessica Thompson.
Released in February 2024 on Palenque Records, the six-track album places bunde, juga, currulao and rumba side by side, with marimba de chonta as the main instrument. Compositions by community masters such as Gómez and traditional songwriter Tomasa Valencia, whose “El Bareque” describes ancestral gold panning by hand, appear alongside newer pieces from the ensemble, building a set of songs rooted in Pacific Colombia.
Behind the group stands the Canalón lineage. Many members passed through Escuela Canalón in eastern Cali, a long-running community school linked to Canalón de Timbiquí, and Amú and singer and tradition bearer Nidia Góngora chose the name De Mar y Río in reference to Canalón de Timbiquí’s Latin Grammy-nominated album De Mar y Río. Since forming, the band took third place in the marimba category at the Festival de Música del Pacífico Petronio Álvarez in 2022 and won first place in the marimba and traditional song category in 2024. Held in Cali, Petronio Álvarez is the main festival for Pacific Afro-Colombian music and a key platform for groups from the region, so those awards mark a clear step in the group’s public life.
The “Pescandito” video appears as work begins on second album Cantaré with producer and songwriter Iván Benavides, known for his work with Carlos Vives and Sidestepper.. It stays close to the musicians around Bailen y Gocen and marks a clear endpoint before their next Pacific marimba release.
Listen and get your copy of Bailen y Gocen HERE