quijerema kakri narrative -...

Quijeremá Kakri: variations for the Venezuelan bandola llanera

In the plains of Venezuela, the bandola is a cultural icon of fierce agile improvisation and above all, tradition. It is the maverick step-child of Joropo —a music that symbolizes the character of a country —a distinct Venezuelan musical soul; ever-changing, independent, jubilant and nostalgic. Then, musician/composer Quique Cruz left the how-to-play bandola instruction manual in a Caracas hotel just before returning to San Francisco. Now what?

The bandola llanera, is emblematic of the folk music enjoyed by hardworking people from the plains of Venezuela. It is a long lost cousin of the Middle Eastern Oud, harkening back to Venezuela’s Spanish colonialists, and in turn, the colonialist’s Arabic roots. Outside of Venezuela, the bandola is relatively obscure, even

throughout Latin America. It is typically played in Venezuelan joropo music with an alternating pick and finger technique called jalao, which means “to pull.” Quijeremá revels in obscure latinoamericana and brings forth a compelling new musical hybrid of folklore and jazz entitled “Kakri: variations for the Venezuelan bandolla llanera.” Kakri, in Venezuelan slang, is a street dog of unknown origin. Quijeremá and its invited guest musicians are only a slightly more refined version of this diverse pedigree.

A few years ago, founding members Jeremy Allen, Quique Cruz and María Fernanda Acuña were discussing the quantity of instruments that they were bringing to performances, sometimes numbering as many as 10 instruments per musician. At that time, Cruz had already composed one piece for bandola. Allen commented: “you need to write more for bandola - it’s too much to bring one instrument for just one tune.” Over the next few months, Cruz composed the remainder of the albums material. He experimented with playing techniques and alternate tunings to coax more from the deceptively simple instrument.

Joropo was born in the llanos (plains) of Venezuela and is a culmination of African, Spanish, and early American sounds. It usually features the four-stringed Venezuelan cuatro, the harp, the mandolin, maracas and of course, the bandola. The instruments can vary by region, but joropo has an unmistakable sound and irresistible rhythm that invites listeners to get up and dance and dance.

Quijeremá nourishes the roots of this music by continuing to develop the range of what can be done with a four-string instrument with only seven frets. While augmenting joropo with contemporary influences such as jazz, mambo from cuba, Argentinean milonga and festejo from Peru, Quijeremá draws from a diverse contemporary popular urban well; rich in as much tradition as irreverence. Cruz cites the Chilean icon of Nueva Canción Violeta Parra as a fundamental influence on his compositions. “She had a great love for Latin American music,” Cruz says, “but at the same time she was irreverent to all forms. Parra mixed ancient instruments such Andean flutes and Mapuche drums (the indigenous people from southern Chile) with modern instrumentation and eclectic ways of composing new music. She showed me that we need to embrace all of Latin American music to create a kaleidoscope - adding, border-crossing, borrowing and recreating the musical palette of the Americas.”

Quijeremá infuses their original contemporary Latin American compositions with a deep sense of unique ancient musical traditions. New with primal, the real and ethereal permeate each performance—an amalgam of Quijeremá’s mastery of traditional music and the present. Still, the blending of rhythm, texture, and color in their music is seamless, transparent and one-of-a-kind. As Quijeremá’s

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percussionist Maria Fernanda Acuña says: “We look for rhythmic patterns born from Latin American percussion forms, and use the strings to produce vertigo.”

Captivating audiences over the course of a eight-year, five-album career; this fine-tuned San Francisco Bay Area based quintet of world musicians has only gotten better. For the 2010-2011 touring season, Quijeremá has created an all-new exciting repertoire featuring the Venezuelan bandola llanera. Compelling new stories told from the stage between songs, and an overall presentation wins the hearts of both latin american music aficionados and newcomers to their sound. Their power keeps audiences engaged with the best of roots music and the surprises of a hard-hitting touch.

With these enticing New-Latinoamericana grooves Quijeremá has been able to break cultural barriers in their concerts. The ensemble has performed throughout the US, Canada and Latin America, including collaborations with a variety of distinguished international musicians such as John Santos, Anthony Blea, Manuel Moreno, Mads Tolling, as well as members of renowned Chilean groups: Congreso, Illapu, The Latin American Sax Quartet, La Pedro Band, Entrama, and Santiago del Nuevo Extremo. In 2006 they were invited to Venezuela to perform as part of the Fiesta de la Diversidad Cultural music festival. In 2007 they were invited to inaugurate the memorial amphitheater Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi, and toured in Santiago, Chile.

The Musicians

Quique Cruz (chile)- bandola, andean woodwinds

Chilean-born Quique Cruz plays a variety of Andean flutes including Sikus, Antaras and Kenas in addition to the Bandola. He has recorded and performed with artists such as Jackson Browne Strunz and Farrah, Pete Seeger, Kenny Loggins, and Sting. In 2000 he released “Tatamonk” with Grammy®-award nominated guitarist Alex de Grassi, a CD which experimented with Andean musical art forms and jazz. He recently co-directed and co-produced the award winning documentary film “Archeology of Memory: Villa Grimaldi” for PBS. Cruz has a degree in History from the University of California at Berkeley; earned a Master's degree in Latin American Studies from Stanford University, and is presently a Ph. D. candidate in Modern Thought and Literature at Stanford.

Jeremy Allen (usa) - acoustic bass & percussion

Bassist, percussionist and audio engineer Jeremy Allen was born in California, but while living in Venezuela, fell in love with the local music. Allen has recorded, collaborated and performed with a wide variety of artists across many genres including Jackeline Rago, David Penalosa, Maria Marquez, Alex de Grassi, and Mike Marshall. He has also worked with Andy Narrel, Aquiles Baez, and Jenny Scheinman. Allen holds a B.A. in American Studies from the UC Berkeley with an emphasis in Urban Education and is the engineer and co-producer of all of Quijeremá’s recorded material.

María Fernanda Acuña (venezuela) - percussion, venezuelan cuatro

Born and raised in Venezuela, Maria Fernanda Acuña specializes in a variety of drums and Latin American percussion instruments such as the Peruvian Cajon, Afro-Venezuelan hand drums and Maracas. For her work with Quijeremá she has developed a unique drum-set incorporating folk instruments from around the world combined with traditional cymbals, snare and kick drum. She also is an accomplished Cuatro player. This approach and wide range of instrumentation plays a major role in defining the sound of Quijeremá. Acuña has a degree in Latin American literature at Mills College, with an emphasis on the historic and cultural development of Venezuelan music as it relates to the African Diaspora, and is presently in a Master’s program in English Literature at Mills College.


John Calloway (usa)- piano, flute

John Calloway is a multi-instrumentalist performer, composer, arranger, and educator, specializing in Cuban popular, Latin and Latin jazz music. He has worked with such renowned artists as Israel "Cachao" Lopez, Max Roach, Omar Sosa, John Santos, Pete Escovedo, and Manny Oquendo. He currently works with his own band, Diaspora, the Bay Area Afro-Cuban All-Stars, and the John Santos Quintet. John holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in music from City University of New York and San Francisco State University respectively, and he is currently completing his doctorate in Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco. He is program coordinator for PlazaCuba, an educational organization that facilitates legal travel and study for music and dance programs in Havana, Cuba.

Elijah Samuels (usa)-tenor saxophone, clarinet

Born and raised in California, Mr. Elijah Samuels is an up-coming talent in the Bay Area music scene. He is a saxophone and clarinet performer and arranger and has been collaborating in Afro-Cuban music projects with master musician John Calloway. He studied Jazz at San Francisco State University where he graduated Cum Laude in 2007 with a Bachelor of Music. Elijah has played with various groups of different genres from funk/soul to salsa and classic big bands.

The Guests

Kakri includes performances from world renowned Latin percussionist Grammy®-award nominated John Santos, Colombian vocalist Claudia Gomez, Chilean singer-Songwriter Rafael Manriquez and Uruguayan vocalist Federico Wolf. These musicians lend a depth of experience that contributes to the collaborative spirit of Quijeremá. It is a familiar sight to see Quijeremá perform live with other artists across many genres including poets, dancers, string quartets, and choirs. In December of 2009, Quijeremá debuted a series of arrangements performed with strings featuring Grammy®-winning violinist Mads Tolling of Turtle Island String Quartet.

Quijeremá produced “Kakri” in collaboration with four-time Grammy®-award nominated producer Greg Landau, and Grammy®-winning master engineer John Greenham who brought different, but equally adventurous musical brilliance to the record.

Quijeremá also composes, records and produces music for documentary films. In 2009 their musical score was featured in the PBS film “Archeology of Memory: Villa Grimaldi” which was a finalist in the International Documentary Association’s 2009 best Music Documentary category.

Along with providing exhilarating entertainment, Quijeremá’s members play over thirty instruments, have performed worldwide and appeared on regional, national and international radio and television. Since the founding of the group, the ensemble has offered three levels of workshops tailored to the needs of particular demographics. For young audiences, the band has conducted hands-on demonstrations, taking an interactive approach to helping kids play Latin American rhythms and learn cultural histories through songs, stories and dance. For older audiences, Quijeremá focuses their discussion on the rich historical and cultural aspects of their music, reinforcing these points with live musical examples. And, for professional musicians, through performance and dialogue, the band shares their insight into the music business and their own creative process as well as details of the technical aspects of producing their art.


Kakri, Quijeremá’s most recent creation, calculates a new bearing in the world of jazz and folk music. Kakri is robust with a richness of rhythm and pattern that eludes classification and is one of many new world folk traditions which continues to evolve.

ON THE RECORD:

Quique Cruz (chile)- bandola, andean woodwinds, caracolesJeremy Allen (usa) - acoustic bass, conch shellsMaria Fernanda Acuña (venezuela)- percussion, venezuelan cuatroElijah Samuels (usa)-tenor saxophone, clarinetJohn Calloway (usa)- piano, flute

John Santos (puerto rico) - bongó, caxixiClaudia Gomez (colombia) - vocals Rafael Manriquez (chile) - vocals Federico Wolf (uruguay) - vocalsDave Barrows (usa) - saxophones


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