Pachamama in concert

Press, 31 October 1983, Page 4

Pachamama in concert

Pachama in concert, at the State Trinity Centre, Saturday, October 29, 8 p.m. Reviewed by John Farnsworth.

For some time now, South America has been undergoing a revival of its folk music traditions, which have often been associated with the growth of new political movements. Certainly this renewed enthusiasm has led to the recent tours by Papalote, and is now evident in the emergence of the latest Christchurch group, Pachamama. Although the performers have appeared on stage before, this was their first full public concert in Christchurch, and they marked it by playing a mixture of plains and mountain music from Peru, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and Ecuador. All three performers Jorge Villazon, Kelvin Scott and Ronald Monasterio — are directly or indirectly of South American origin. All are also multi-instrumental-they displayed to }

excellent advantage as they swapped and reswapped quenas, bombos, charangas, and a variety of other instruments.

This breadth of ability allowed them to exploit a wide range of tonal combinations, which added considerable variety to the 20 or so numbers they performed. While the subject matter of their songs often expressed the simple emotions of love, happiness, or sadness, the melodies were both graceful and deceptively complex in texture. This was derived from a multitude of effects, from syncopated cross-rhythms to rapid, repeated grace notes on the quenas. All these subtleties were caught by the players, and in spite of some initial nervousness, which made a few of the opening pieces rushed and uneasy, they gradually relaxed, to give an impressively prepared and arranged programme. Their Splaying was tight, well bal-

anced, and always proficient. With more confidence, in the second half, their performance gained a greater sense of drive and rhythm. At times, they lacked cohesion, and the melodies, demanding the same attention as a souffle during cooking, responded accordingly. When they combined, however, they could produce an. enchanting sound, as they did with “Nancahuasa,” “Taquirari” and “Cacha-' pari,” for example. Individually they have particular strengths, such as the deft fingering Kelvin Scott displayed in the Peruvian waltz, or Jorge Villazon’s charanga playing. In all, the group has come a long way since its last appearance with Papalote. With more experience, it will be in a position to explore the spirit and animation of the music more fully and, it must be hoped, to become a regular feature of musi(£ in Christchurch.