Las Flores Del Sol
By nilamaye
There is a miracle – Nilamayé. The artistic concept put forward by this group of young virtuoso percussionists and singers is exceptionally strong. This strength lies in the invi- tation they offer us to listen in new ways and open up our perspective, while remaining cautious. Because these musicians are careful, in two respects:On the one hand, they make a fundamental distinction between respecting tradition and following tradition. The respect shown here for traditional forms of Colombian music is accompanied by a calling into question of all forms of dogmatism, which could burden these practices with rules that stand in the way of invention. This generation has a critical view of taboos and works to loosen up rather than strengthen any form of nomologicalhold. For them, tradition is more than a body of infinitely replicable precepts. A tradition is not a dogma, rather it is an invitation made by older generations to the generation of today to ‘make music’, by inventively appropriating the repertoires with which they grew up.On the other hand, the approach of these musicians involves careful reflection, as inventiveness does not mean that everything is permitted. This is where the strength of the recordings that are now offered to us lies: these musicians take care to ensure that the delicate soundscape of the world does not turn into cacophony. They work towards the harmony of the world, which means placing their artistic gesture within a process of continual invention, while not straying too far from the shores of tradition: this concerns us all, as this is how tradition is formed.