“CABANGA”, a selection of 14 iconic and folk-rooted Panamanian songs where traditional sonorities coexist harmoniously with elements of jazz, classical, and Latin American music, resulting in an integral work that combines respect for the roots with a universal vision.

This album was an artistic collaboration between Patricia Vlieg and Popi Spatocco, and featured renowned artists such as Paquito D’Rivera, Lila Downs, Luna Monti, Juan Quintero, Maridalia Hernández, Mónica Salmaso, Berta Rojas, and Lilián Saba, as well as practitioners of traditional Panamanian music.

The album is available on all digital platforms such as iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and CD Baby.

 

EPK del Proyecto Cabanga

“CABANGA” is a thematic 14-song album that explores and elaborates on Panamanian folk and art songs. Patricia Vlieg, using a variety of musical settings, gracefully combines elements of Panamanian music with those of jazz, classical, and other Latin American musical traditions. These songs have been recorded with guest musicians, who aside from tremendous talent and distinguished careers, also share respect and love for our Latin American and universal musical heritage. The greatest contribution of this new release is to present a vision of Panamanian music as an experience of reexamination, to be listened to from within and outside ourselves with tenderness for our roots, and simultaneously with wings of creativity and inventiveness. International guest artists are: Paquito D’Rivera, Berta Rojas, Lilián Saba, Mónica Salmaso, Lila Downs, Juan Quintero, Luna Monti, and Maridalia Hernández. Arrangements and musical direction for this album have been a collaboration with Popi Spatocco (former pianist and arranger for the Argentinian singer, Mercedes Sosa).

The songs contained in this project are the pretext to share our own story; remember where we came from; recall names, faces and sceneries. These songs create spaces filled with surprise and admiration, prompting us to listen and be heard. They represent a link that connects and communicates through multiple generations; a source of sustenance and strength; a legacy of love and pride; and an opportunity for those who are on the outside to get to know us and our culture intimately.

The album is available through iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and CD Baby.

 

And that was precisely the purpose. To give a new dress to those evergreen songs, the ones that bring us so much joy or sadness because they are filled with memories, evoke a happy childhood, or the remembrance of those who are no longer with us; the emotion of a first love or a very special flavor, like that of Cabanga.

For the Panamanian singer, ‘one does not know a land deeply if one does not know its songs’, and that is why they must be fresh and current. They are part of our Panamanian identity, they define us.

Esther Arjona, La Estrella de Panamá

“Bringing this project to fruition was not easy, as it involved arduous research work. Vlieg, with a background in contemporary music, had to discover the Panamanian sound on her own, immerse herself in its lyrics, let herself be carried away by the particular rhythm of its drum, understand its décimas, appreciate the improvised art of the saloma, and delve into the original sounds to begin to define it: ‘While folklorists know it from heart, we had to write down the recipe for traditional Panamanian music,’ explains the singer-songwriter.”

By Luis Lorenzo, El Venezolano, Panama.

They say that one does not truly know someone until one has visited their home and traveled in their company. I dare to affirm that one does not know a land deeply if one does not know its songs.
Our land is not the same without its songs. They are our intimate stories, portraits of our ways of being and feeling; mirrors to see our own image adorned with music and words. They are a window to know and remember beloved names, experiences, and landscapes.
This selection of iconic and folk-rooted Panamanian songs constitutes a starting point. “Cabanga” is a gaze made with care and above all with deep respect, affection, and gratitude for our musical and cultural heritage.
This work brings together a diversity of authors whose names and works rooted in our musical tradition evoke the simple and endearing warmth of a Panama that underlies our memory and which, even as we open to new horizons, we cannot and do not want to forget. Songs with roots and wings like our land itself; travel companions; compass and map; spaces of search and encounter to share memories and feelings; a place to listen, celebrate, feel, think and glimpse… That is “Cabanga,” this first work that “Panama in the Heart” delivers today.
In “Cabanga,” the songs are a laid table to which we have invited musicians and singers from various latitudes. Thank you for sharing them; for the space of committed, conscious, and creative collaboration and for the joy of knowing that Panama also resonates in your hearts with music and words.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Recorded between September and November 2014 at:
Fort Music Studios in Buenos Aires,
Freiberg Music Studios, New York,
PTY Studios, Panama
Recording Engineer at Fort Studios and PTY Studios: Ariel Lavigna
Recording Assistants: Norberto Villagra, Ignacio Molino
Recording Engineer at Freiberg Music Studios: Daniel Freiberg
Mixed and mastered by Carlos Laurenz and Ariel Lavigna
at Carlos Laurenz Mastering in Buenos Aires
Illustration: María Camila Bernal Toro
Graphic Design: Paola Reggio
Photos: Tito Herrera, Cine Animal
Research and Compilation: Patricia Vlieg
Research Support: Esther Arjona
Artistic Production: Patricia Vlieg and Popi Spatocco
Executive Production: Vilma Esquivel
Contact: info@patriciavlieg.com
Website: http://www.patriciavlieg.com
 
Here are the musicians who contributed to the “Cabanga” album:
Patricia Vlieg: Vocals on all tracks
Popi Spatocco: Piano, musical direction and arrangements on all tracks except 7 and 11
Ricardo Cánepa: Double bass on all tracks except 7, 9 and 11
Facundo Guevara: Percussion on all tracks, except 3, 7, 10 and 11
Milagros Blades: Pujador (hand drum) on tracks 1, 2, 9 and 13; Repicador (hand drum) on tracks 1, 4, 9 and 13; Azuerense box drum on tracks 9 and 13; Chorrerana box drum on track 2
Vilma Esquivel: Guitar on tracks 2, 3 and 14
Ruth García: Violin solo on track 1
Carlos Castro: Saloma (vocal improvisation) and shouts on track 2; Shouts on track 13
Jorge Bergero: Cello solo on track 2
Marcelo Chiodi: Quena (Andean flute) on track 2; Sikus (Andean panpipes) on track 14
Paquito D’Rivera: Clarinet on track 3
Edmar Castañeda: Harp on track 3
Pablo Fenoglio: Trombone on track 4
Roberto Calvo: Guitar on track 5 and arrangement on track 7
Damian Bolotín: Violin solo on track 5
Laura Hackstein: Viola solo on track 8
Berta Rojas: Classical guitar on track 7
Daniel Lifschitz: Flute on track 9
Natalia Silipo: Oboe on track 9
Daniel Kovacich: Clarinet on track 9
Diego Armengol: Bassoon on track 9
Juan Quintero: Vocals on track 10
Efraín González: Mejoranera (Panamanian folk guitar) on track 10
Lilián Saba: Piano and arrangement on track 11
Colaquito Cortés: Accordion on track 13
Yaelis Urriola: Vocals on track 13
Eric Blanquicet: Congo drums (low and dry) on track 14
Luna Monti: Vocals on tracks 10 and 14
Lila Downs: Vocals on track 14
Mónica Salmaso: Vocals on track 14
Maridalia Hernández: Vocals on track 14
Damián Bolotín, Sebastian Prusak, Grace Medina, Raúl Di Renzo, Cesar Rago: Violins on tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and 14
Laura Hackstein, Kristin Bara: Violas on tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and 14
Jorge Bergero: Cellos on tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and 14
Kasagia Jiménez: Choir preparation on track 13
Camila Bolívar, Gabriela Edwards, Julliette Joyce, Francesca Rovetto, Regina Francolini, Isabella Carbonell, Pilar Jiménez, Elena Castro Valencia, Ana Gabriela Gerbaud, María Elena Gerbaud, Ana Gabriela Correa, Olga Spiegel, María Fernanda Achurra, Isabella Chowkai, Teresa Varela, Yaelisdania Urriola B., Yarelis Urriola B.: Choir on track 13
Musical Direction and Arrangements: Popi Spatocco on all tracks, except track 7 with arrangement by Roberto Calvo and track 11 with arrangement by Lilián Saba.