Carmelo Torres

Carmelo Torres y su Cumbia Sabanera is nowadays the most important colombian roots cumbia exponent. Pupils and family of Andrés Landero, this group is pure cumbia and maximum exponent of the "sabanera" music.

Carmelo Torres is greatest living representative of the San Jacinto accordion-led cumbia style he inherited from his teacher, the legendary Andrés Landero backed up by Los Toscos, a new ensemble comprised of some of Bogota's finest musicians including Mario Galeano on guacharaca (Frente Cumbiero), Pedro Ojeda on drums (Romperayo), Santiago Botero (el ombligo) on bass, Kike Mendoza (MULA) on guitar and Juan Castaño (La revuelta) on percussion.

Born and raised in the San Jacinto area, Colombia, home of traditional cumbia and vallenato, Carmelo Torres has been playing the accordion since his was very young and could afford to buy one. He learned to play vallenato first, by himself, before he met Andres Landero and started to play cumbias. Since Landero passed away in 2000, Carmelo’s major concern’s been to carry on his teacher’s legacy, keeping the cumbia genre alive and teaching the youngest.

Los Toscos is originally an avant-garde, experimental jazz band from Bogotá, composed of Juan David Castaño (percussions), Santiago Botero (bass) and Kike Mendoza (guitar). The band was later joined by two key figures of modern Colombian music: Pedro Ojeda on the drums, and Mario Galeano on the guacharaca (Ondatrópica, Los Pirañas, Frente Cumbiero..)

Back in 2014, Carmelo joined Los Toscos for several concerts in Bogotá and they recorded an album, which was released in the end of 2015 on matik-matik Discos. As our good friends at NYCT (who released another 7” EP from this fantastic project) state it, “the resulting connection is a yet unheard of concoction of Colombian roots and Garage Fuzz”, and builds a “quintessential bridge between the old and new generations of Colombian musicians”. Electric, atmospheric guitars, sizzled drums and synthesized elements bring something fresh to the cumbia genre, preserving its authenticity at the same time. Something we hadn’t heard before, yet to be explored.

The first single of Carmelo Torres y su Cumbia sabanera´s new production is Bailemos Cumbia. Released on october 2017 on Sonids Enraizados on all streaming platforms. This prelude to the release of the full album Me Recordarán is a good introduction to the real roots cumbia Carmelo is offering to the world from his town San Jacinto.