Nattiva

NATTIVA

Musicians Collaborate With Natural Costa Rica Sounds

   The shelves of souvenir shops throughout the tourist towns in Costa Rica are littered with CDs boasting the “natural sounds” of this country. Nearly all of them are pretty boring, their biggest attribute being the cover art, designed for the impulse buy. In 1999, Manuel Obregon and Papaya Music changed all that with the release of Simbiosis, a recording of natural sounds from Monteverde with Obregon playing piano as a kind of accompaniment. There is also a spectacular DVD that was filmed at the same time, using the CD as a soundtrack.

   Now, more than ten years later, a new CD by the name of Nattiva has been released and distributed by Son de la Jungla. Like Simbiosis, it was also recorded at Monteverde. This time, the musical contribution comes from renowned percussionist Carlos Vargas and the equally notable pianist/flutist Walter Flores, who also mixed and mastered the album at Estudio Costasonic. And Fidel Gamboa makes a cameo appearance to offer his song, “Como Un Pajaro” (Like a Bird), a song made famous by his band, Malpais. Vargas, who plays with Gamboa in Malpais, as well in three-time Grammy winners Editus, is the driving force behind the musical arrangement on the CD. It is he who controls the pace and directions of the eleven different passages on the disc, totally nearly an hour of music.

Carlos Vargas in action

   But the album as whole belongs to Alexander Villegas and Patricia Maynard. Villegas is a naturalist who has dedicated his life to recording the natural sounds of the Costa Rican rainforests and his labor of love has been transcribed onto this disc with amazing clarity. Patricia Maynard is a producer who conceived the idea for the disc, then brought together all the individual components to create the impressive final package. Carlos Vargas even recognizes Maynard as the “matron and mother of the creation”. And Patricia Maynard herself has likened the fusion of passions of the artists involved as their “first child”, hence the name, Nattiva. While the recordings from Monteverde could probably stand on their own, I think it is the musical thrust that allows it to stand apart from other similar recordings. With the voices from no less than twenty types of toads and frogs, along with jaguars, leopards, a bevy of different birds, including the quetzal, several monkey species and a coyote or two, there is a broad spectrum of Costa Rican wildlife represented on the disc.

   The CD is included in a hardbound book, encased in a durable laminated cardboard sleeve. The pages of the book, mostly color photos by four top-notch Costa Rican photographers, are represented on high-gloss, heavy gauge paper. The photos are high dpi, very clean and clear. The entire package is all very first rate in production. I look forward to the birth of the future brothers and sisters of Nattiva.

     This CD is available at the Jaime Peligro bookstores in Playa Tamarindo, Quepos and Nuevo Arenal. It can also be purchased online anywhere in the world at: jaimepeligro123@hotmail.com .
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