The town of Timbiquí, the world Colombian singer Begner Vásquez grew up in, seemed more likely to deal him a fate of digging gold out of an illegal mine or send him into the crosshairs of his country’s armed conflict. But some things tilt history in your favor — like the record player Vásquez and his friends used to listen to in their small river town, a place tucked away and almost forgotten, a place buried in the thick jungle along Colombia’s Pacific coast. Population: 100. Continue reading on Ozy…
There are a couple of places around Bogotá where they play Salsa. This one was a modest looking place that sits just off this side street in Centro. It was housed in an old colonial and the only way you know you’re there is the name engraved into a stone block next to the door. It reads Quiebracanto.
Colombia has a strong tradition of Salsa that resonates from the Pacific-coast city of Cali. So when I found myself at a salsa club listening to Toño Barrio, a Cali-based Salsa group, I tried to remember the fast, complex Salsa step, the rules I had learned several years back. But sometimes it’s better when the rules get broken. Continue reading on Beacon…
Wes Michael Tomaselli 