Puerto Candelaria

“PUERTO CANDELARIA is the most DARING, CONTROVERSIAL AND INNOVATIVE music proposal of Colombia in the last decades. It is a blast of sound that has crossed borders, mocked schemes and charted a course for the Latin American independent music scene”. OFFICIAL SELECTION AT WOMEX 2016

Puerto Candelaria is a blast of sound that has crossed borders, mocked schemes and charted a course for the Latin American independent music scene. It is an imaginary –yet real- place where not only music exists: theatre, dance and humor are also effective resources that its members use to expose in an acid and ridiculing manner the absurdity of Colombia.

To visit Puerto Candelaria is to travel into a depth of sounds that originate in the Colombian traditions but fearlessly start playing with the magical realism and all the influences gathered in all its travels (harbours visited by the Candelaria Ship) and the inexhaustible inspiration of the Sargento Remolacha (“Sergeant Beetroot” Juancho Valencia, director and pianist) who set sail 16 years ago with no intention of returning.

Ant this means having achieved unthinkable records for the independent music scene: playing in more than 80 cities around the world covering South and North America, Europe and even Asia, outstanding Record Sales and a noticeable influence on new music generations, which makes Puerto Candelaria, as well as its home, Merlin Productions, a successful model for the culture industry.

The group has invented contradictory rhythms such as Cumbia Rebelde y Underground (Underground Rebel Cumbia) and Colombian Style Jazz. Its 5 record productions including a live DVD have become a fundamental document for the music and culture of its generation. “Kolombian Jazz” (2002), “Llegó la Banda”(2006), “Vuelta Canela”(2010), “Cumbia Rebelde”(2011) and “Amor y Deudas”(DVD- 2014) are the records in which the Candelarios have printed their journey, which is now writing History.

LINE UP: Valencia Vanegas Juan Diego: director, Piano | Gonzalez Moreno Eduardo: bass | Rios Escobar Cristian Camilo: trombone | Martínez Pardo Carlos Didier Andrés: percussions | Alzate Velez Magaly Alejandra: vocals and percussions | Lozano Santibañez Harlinson Humberto: sax & clarinett | Marín Ávalos Julio César: scenographer