Jaime Gamboa and His New Constellation
The Guanacastecan band called
Malpais is currently the most popular musical group in Costa Rica, and
for a good reason: they are loaded with diversely talented musicians and there
songs are contagious. A large majority of the band’s songs are written and sung
by the guitarist Jaime Gamboa, who founded Malpais a decade ago with his
brother Fidel, who plays bass guitar for the group. Early in the band’s
history, they caught the attention of one of the founders of Papaya Music, the
pianist Manuel Obregon, who now also plays in Malpais. Like Obregon, Jaime
Gamboa likes to create new music that at times pays tribute to his musical
roots. And like Obregon, Gamboa is also something of a music historian with a
personal ambition to preserve in recordings some of the folkloric and regional
music and musicians who are quickly fading into an irretrievable past. This interwoven
combination of influence and motivation is what I consider being truly “true to
your school”.
A result of this
combination of aspirations is that Jaime Gamboa is a many-faceted person. He
has been involved in Tierra Seca with his uncle, Max Goldemberg. He was
instrumental in recording Al Pie del Balcon, an album of traditional
Guanacastecan love songs. He has written books for young readers, books of
poetry and participates in La Orquestra Esporadico. Whew! The word “prolific”
comes to mind, but I don’t think that one phrase says enough.
Sr. Gamboa’s new
venture has the appearance of a new horizon for him, a multi-media project that
includes literature, music and the use of the internet. The physical part of
this new project, the CD and book of short stories, come packaged together. The
album is titled La Cancion de Adan and features Jaime at times solo,
accompanied Malpais on other occasions and simply brother Fidel and Uncle Max
on others. But this is not by any stretch of the imagination a continuation of
Malpais or Tierra Seca; to the contrary, I believe it is the continuation of
the vision or dreams of Jaime, at times with his friends along for the ride. The
songs are a collection of “traditional” and original scores, but the entire
project takes on the look of an invented character and universe, so I suspect
all the songs are actually Jaime’s. The photography and graphic design by
Luciano Capelli are impeccable in displaying the overall ethereal mood of the
project.
The collection of
short stories, titled “La Orquestra Imposible” is other-worldly as well, in its
own style, with stories about Jonas and the songs of Adam, characters who
straddle the line between history and fiction. This work is divided into two
parts, seven vignettes in total. I think it demonstrates Gamboa’s versatility
(he’s a musician by trade, after all) and his full embrace of his vision. Jaime
Gamboa is methodically becoming a spokesperson for his country and his
generation.
The new CD/book
collection and all Papaya CDs are available at the Jaime Peligro book stores in
Playa Tamarindo, Quepos, and Tilaran, where they will gladly sample the music
for their customers.All comments concerning thihs article are welcome.
