Serenading in Guanacaste
Papaya Music Offers a
Glimpse of a Fading Art
Entering the
Twenty-First Century, the Latin American practice of serenading a “sleeping
heart” has nearly become a lost art. Recently, however, four well-versed musicians
from the province of Guanacaste in Costa
Rica gathered themselves in the Papaya Music Studio in San Jose to share songs
and stories, reminisce and record their folkloric songs together and to
chronicle, embrace and preserve this cultural tradition. The practice of the
wandering minstrel has markedly declined in Central
America in the past few decades, but one can still catch a glimpse
of these musicians plying their trade in Playa Tamarindo and its surrounding
beach areas. At one point in time not so very long ago, this practice was so
prominent that local authorities actually levied a Serenading Tax.
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| A young Odilon Juarez |
The result of the
recent meeting of the four musicians in San
Jose has been the release on Papaya Records of “Al Pie
del Balcon, Guanacaste Serenades”. The four prominent vocalists are the
seasoned troubadours Jose “Papi” Everado, the brothers Odilon and Santos
Juarez, and Max Goldenberg, all who once strolled the streets of the small
towns in Guanacaste, singing their love letters. Fidel Gamboa, the founder of
the popular Costa Rican band Malpais, brought the singers together to record
this disc. In fact, the musicians accompanying the four vocalists on this
project are basically the rhythm section of Malpais with the addition of the
renowned Costa Rican classical guitarist Mario Ulloa.
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| Fidel in the studio |
The recording is
obviously Gamboa’s baby, as he produced it as well as appearing everywhere on
the album, playing a variety of guitars, as well as marimbas, piano, mandolin
and the four-string requinto. He even employed a small town marching band for
one of the sixteen recordings. Five other songs on this disc employ the
credible use of a male chorus and a horn section that includes a deep,
resonating tuba. But it is primarily the acoustic guitar, along with a variety
of other wooden, mobile stringed instruments played by Ulloa and Gamboa, that
highlight the romantic portraits and frame the mood for the vocalists and their
torch songs. The fifty minute disc opens appropriately with “Serenata
Romatica”, a classic serenade of Grand Passion.
In typical,
impeccable fashion, Papaya Music has packaged the CD in an eco-friendly,
cardboard jacket with an insert booklet of lyrics and photos that have a nice
touch: old black and white, dated snapshots with red, highlighted flowers,
enhancing the romantic mood of the CD. Not to be lost in the ribbons and bows,
it should be noted that Papaya once again has done a comprehensive, commendable
job at preserving a rapidly fading facet of Costa Rican culture. There is also
a deluxe box set that makes a great Valentine gift.
“Al Pie del
Balcon” and all Papaya Music CDs are available at Jaime Peligro Book Shops in
Playa Tamarindo, Quepos and Tilaran, where they will gladly play the music for
their customers. All comments concerning this article are welcome.
