¡Dale Duro al Bombo!

If you’re a fan of Nidia Góngora, especially her work in Canalón de Timbiquí, then you’re sure to love this. Ruth Elena Cabezas, aka Ruca, is a teacher, cantaora (a very specific brand of matriarchal Afro-Colombian singer) and a composer of reputedly over a thousand songs over the last 20 years. Instantly you’re drawn into that familiar framework of percussive, probing marimba melodies, lifted off the ground with hand drum and shaker grooves, with glorious female call-and-response vocals giving the whole thing soul and purpose.

It's a miraculous union, Ruca's lead vocals sparring with both the backing voices and the marimba, the whole instrumental arsenal knowing exactly when to shift gears, when to get feet moving on the effervescent ‘Rumba pa’ Gozá’, when to give even more depth to the mourning on funeral song ‘Indirita’, or when to let Ruca sermonise on the culturally-important ‘África Negra’. Much of the traditional Pacific music getting released from Colombia right now has been from the state of Cauca, or via urban cities like Tumaco and Cali. Ruca differs, as she's from Barbacoas in Nariño state, and what is striking is how similar the music is, despite the lack of roads making these locations extremely isolated.