Editus Stretches Out

Editus Stretches Out

Two Very Different Projects Unveiled by Popular Costa Rican Band

   When the non-profit foundation Mar Viva decided to film a documentary for PBS London about the unique wonders of the Panamanian island Coiba, they knew they needed a director who was well-versed in the genre. They selected American Emmy winner, Rick Rosenthal, who had already filmed (and won awards for) “Blue Planet” and “Paths of Life”. And when Rosenthal surveyed Coiba, with its coral reef, the second largest in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, he knew he would need a soundtrack to compliment the wonders above and below the sea that he would be documenting on film. He looked no farther than Editus, a three-time Grammy Award winning band from Costa Rica. The band was his first and only call.

      Located in Golfo de Chiriqui, Coiba and its surrounding waters, approximately 430,000 square kilometers, are one of Panama’s prize preserves. The documentary depicts the unique and abundant wildlife on the island itself and in the ocean that embraces it. Editus undertook the task by recording and overlaying indigenous sound to compliment the trio’s instrumental soundtrack. The resulting music, like the area, is one of a kind. Standout pieces include “Sea, Land and Air” and “The Color of Coral”. I’m not sure if some of the musical passages are synthesized or “squeezed”, but the music definitely sounds airy when needed, and aquatic when that is appropriate. All three members of Editus are master musicians and with this disc they demonstrate their capability to broaden their collective scope.

     With the Coiba project completed, the band returned to the studio to wrap up their highly anticipated new album, “Editus 360”. I don’t know if the title is a reference to coming full circle, but if Coiba is an example of communing with Nature, then 360 demonstrates the band’s Metro side, as alluded to in the cover art. If Editus was worried about being pigeon-holed as being strictly New Age, this album buries that theory, cleans the shovel and puts it back in the toolshed. Dancing to an Editus CD? Believe it. The trio has pulled out all the stops, using cool, sexy female voice-overs, a synthesizer board, and guitarist Edin Solis applying a heavy bottom on his guitar work to create a big, upbeat and yes, very danceable sound.

     Make no mistake: this is still an Editus album, still the same three musicians weaving their musical tapestries as they have for nearly two decades. And maybe it is this familiarity with each other, this compatibility that makes their new direction so seemingly easy for the trio. The band employed Fernan “Zurdo” Castro for the synthesized, electronica effect. In fact, the entire band was plugged in, with Carlos “Tapado” Vargas even utilizing electronic percussive devices. The result is a new sound that somehow sounds very familiar. Together, these two new albums seem to present the new Yin and Yang of Editus.

     In Tamarindo, Quepos and Tilaran, all Editus CDs are available exclusively at Jaime Peligro, where they will gladly sample the music for their customers.  jaimepeligro123@hotmail.com

  All comments concerning this article are welcome.