Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Mario Ulloa - Afternoons in Alajuela


Afternoons in Alajuela

   Growing up on the outskirts of San Jose, Costa Rica in the late 60s and early 70s, television sets were a rarity, the exception to the rule. So people improvised. For Mario Ulloa, entertainment came in the form of music: around the age of ten, he simply picked up one of his mother’s guitars and learned to play, much as she had done in her youth with one of her father’s guitars. For Mario, having uncles who also played, brothers of his mother, was probably a big help as well. Mario recalls that they all “played and sang all night for entertainment”.

   After fifteen years of training in classical music, Ulloa moved to Brazil and started teaching at the School of Music in the city of Bahia, where he has resided for the past sixteen years. Recently, the city of Bahia bestowed on him a Medal of Honor, for his “cultural contributions to the city”. He has toured and performed live in over twenty countries in North and South America and Europe. He recorded an album in 2001 of his interpretation of J.S. Bach scores and another in 2006 of the music of Caymmi. And he has always thought about his Costa Rican roots, with the plan to some day pay homage to them. Last September, he participated in the Festival of Guitars in San Jose and stayed in his home country to record an album with the national Orquestra Filarmonica. It was during this time that Ulloa reunited with Manuel Obregon, the president of Papaya Music.

   Sr. Ulloa is no stranger to Papaya. He performed on “Al Pie del Balcon”, a CD compilation of romantic Guanacaste songs, recorded in 2005 with Obregon and various members of the popular band Malpais. His project fit right into the scheme of the Papaya mission statement of preserving traditional Central American music while furthering the collective scope of contemporary local musicians. They went straight to work. The end result, “Tardes de Alajuela” does a very sincere job of allowing Ulloa to interpret the work of his mentors by playing his versions of their songs.

   The ten song CD contains selections from six songwriters spanning more than one hundred thirty years. The album is completely instrumental, strictly Mario Ulloa and his acoustic guitar. I have to admit that the overall sound and feel of the music remind me of an afternoon of dimming light in a place and time far less hectic than our own. The musical direction on this project was overseen by Edin Solis, a friend of Mario and the songwriter/arranger/guitarist for the three time Grammy award winning Costa Rican band Editus. Ulloa does an incredible version of the Ray Tico classic, “Eso es Imposible”, and four songs by Ernesto Alfaro, including the title track.

   Mario Ulloa’s “Tardes de Alajuela” and all Papaya CDs are available at Jaime Peligro in Playa Tamarindo, Quepos and Tilaran where they will gladly sample the music for their customers.All comments concerning this article are welcome.

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