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Editorial Reviews

This is one installment of the 14-part Beats of the Heart series, produced by English filmmaker Jeremy Marre. There's a lot of traditional and modern-day Colombian music-making to be seen and heard, but the focus is not as much on the music as on the cultural forces that are, in the view of some residents (and most likely the filmmaker's), viewed to be changing Colombian music and society for the worse. Colombian music was, until very recently, produced mostly on simple pipes, and while we do see some footage of these, more time is given to modern vallenato dance bands, who use accordions and even (gasp) electric instruments. It's postulated that the drug mafia is responsible for introducing this element of modernization, a thesis which is reinforced by clips of vallenato bands performing songs of praise for drug lords. Whether the drug trade is responsible for changing the music or not, though, this sort of modernization of Third World Music is hardly unique. In Africa, Asia, and other regions, musicians are plugging in, often of their free will, and the results are not always a bad thing, although this documentary sometimes seems to hint otherwise. Regardless of whether you appreciate the filmmaker's perspective or not, it's an interesting, sometimes fascinating look at a changing way of life, and how the music reflects that. If you take a look, bear in mind that this was produced in the 1980s, and the volatile political and social climate of Colombia may well have helped cause the music to evolve in different directions in the years since this was filmed. Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

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