Madremonte

Madremonte is the debut album from the Europe-based Colombian duo, Jaguar. The title of the album makes reference to an old Colombian myth connected to the land and perfectly epitomises the theme throughout the entire album. Madremonte as a work connects the pair of musicians to the traditional sounds of their homeland in Colombia as well as to the more global-focused elements of Europe and beyond. Combining Afro-Colombian rhythms that hail from the Caribbean coast such as cumbia, porro and champeta, Madremonte does not shy away from utilising a heavy-handed Colombian influence throughout the album. Nowhere on the record is this fusion so perfectly crafted than within the tropical ‘Síguele el Paso’. With typical Colombian-Caribbean rhythm in the percussion, a son cubano influenced riff, and a zouk-style guitar, this piece is a fantastic starting point into discovering what Jaguar is about.

An album highly focused on the instrumental, Madremonte takes a slice of everything Colombian and packages it within an international musical perspective, providing us with an accurate introduction to the world of modern Colombian fusion music.