Few styles of music lift my spirits more than the drum- and marimba-driven chants born along Colombia’s Pacific coast. These ancestral grooves survived the travails of 16th-century colonization to become the musical heritage of the region’s enslaved persons who’d escaped captivity—and to my ears, they distill freedom and joy in every note. The members of […]
Tag: Colombia
Posted inMusic
Tropical futurists Combo Chimbita share trippy, cathartic jams on Ahomale
The members of this Colombia-rooted, New York City-based quartet—vocalist and percussionist Carolina Oliveros, drummer Dilemastronauta, guitarist Niño Lento, and bassist-keyboardist Prince of Queens—have been pursuing what they call “tropical futurism” since 2015. Combo Chimbita’s magical, trippy rhythms are potent dance-inducing potions that build upon an extensive variety of beats from the global south, including Afro-Colombian […]
Posted inBlogs
Barack and Michelle Obama reveal the design of the Obama Presidential Center, and other Chicago news
Also, FC Barcelona is opening a soccer training academy in Chicago next year.
Posted inColumns & Opinion
A trip to Bogotá offers inspiration for Chicago transportation
If bus rapid transit and pedestrianized streets can work in Colombia, why not here?
Posted inBlogs
The first confirmed case of Zika virus in Chicago and other news
Also, Rahm slams Donald Trump, and being admitted to Walter Payton College Prep is a huge accomplishment.
Posted inFood & Drink
Bar Takito gives David Dworshak room to explore his continent-spanning influences
The food at Bar Takito is wonderful. But waiting for it to arrive is a real adventure.
Posted inBlogs
12 O’Clock Track: ‘Cumbia Africana,’ killer Afro-Colombian grooves from Son Palenque
A ripper from Colombia’s Caribbean coast
Posted inNews & Politics
The drug warrior
Chicago DEA special agent in charge Jack Riley has targeted the Outfit, dirty cops, street gangs, and the Sinaloa cartel, yet the drugs keep coming.
Posted inBlogs
The great Luis Tosar continues to impress in Operation E
The Colombian-set docudrama screens again tomorrow as part of the European Union Film Festival.
Posted inNews & Politics
The Chicago cocaine kingpin who was a federal informant
Why did the DEA look the other way while two brothers imported as much as eight tons of cocaine into the city?
Posted inNews & Politics
This week’s Chicagoan: Michael Adkesson, veterinarian, Brookfield Zoo
Meet Michael Adkesson, who has performed a root canal on an elephant
Posted inBlogs
12 O’Clock Track: Las Malas Amistades, “El Otro Día”
A pretty ballad from the new album by Colombia’s Las Malas Amistades
Posted inBlogs
Nicole Mitchell Premieres a New Suite, With Guest Edmar Castaneda
Thursday at the Cultural Center, flutist Nicole Mitchell premieres the new suite “Mother Nature” in a free concert with guest harpist Edmar Castaneda.
Posted inBlogs
Target your giving … or worrying
Doctors Without Borders lists the “most underreported” humanitarian stories of the past year.