Orchestra of Samples:
Alejandro Escallón (Colombia)

Each month we dip into the fascinating blog of ethno-sampling mavericks Addictive TV and their global music project Orchestra of Samples.

 Recording and sampling musicians around the world, creating extraordinary new music, this post is from a recording session in Bogota, Colombia.

ALEJANDRO ESCALLÓN, BOGOTÀ, COLOMBIA

While performing Orchestra of Samples in Colombia’s coastal city of Cartagena in 2017, we decided to head out earlier than the event and stay a week in the capital city of Bogotá, hooking up with old friends, meeting many new ones and recording improvised sessions for the project.

We decided to stay in the happening area of Chapinero Alto, just a short walk away from composer, multi-instrumentalist and friend Alejandro Escallón, who we recorded on guitar, piano, various percussion drums and also on accordion, playing Colombian Vallenato and Cumbia music (both on UNESCO‘s Intangible Cultural Heritage lists).  We’d first met Alejandro quite some years ago in France when he was touring Europe with his band Jaranatambó, who are currently one of the most representative acts on the Colombian music scene you’ll find! Formed in 2001 they’ve released four albums and in 2011 were winners of the World Music Award at the International Songwriting Contest in the USA with their song Ooee.  The band’s album Republica Independiente absolutely affirms their electro Latino sounds, fusing salsa, merengue, Colombian and Brazilian folk with electronic elements and beats; a real fiesta of rhythms.

Alejandro studied classical piano at the University of Los Andes and in recent years has also composed music for Fox’s Discovery Channel, for both documentaries and drama series. He’s collaborated with Colombian folk artists Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto and Magín Díaz, with singer and actress Yolanda Rayo, Stuart Fergie of Australian band OKA and with American producer Khalil Hyppolite (Kool and the Gang, Wyclef Jean, Lauren Hill). Go check him out!

We’ve sampled Alejandro in our track East to West from Orchestra of Samples, the track isn’t officially released yet but here’s a video of it from a live performance from our studios in London and Paris while lockdown was happening during the Covid-19 pandemic.


For more info about Orchestra of Samples and Alejandro Escallón, check out: https://www.orchestraofsamples.com/bogota-colombia/

 

© Addictive TV 2023 / Orchestra of Samples
Photos © Francoise Lamy.

 

 

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