THE TALKS

---

An informal discussion with 4 important Colombian musicians from the community in London: Roberto Pla / Kinacho Suarez / Nirk Molina / Luz Elena Caicedo. The talk will deal with the history of Colombian and Latin music in the UK, it will touch and draw from the personal experiences of the musicians and their challenges to keep live Latin music alive.

Moderator/Speaker Dr Camilo Soler, King’s College University. Venue: Peckham Levels Time. 7 pm

 Legendary Latin percussionist and band leader, born in Colombia but based in the UK since the late 1970’s, hailed as the Godfather of Latin music in the UK. Roberto has played with everyone from Gonzalez to Boney M, Motorhead to Kate Bush and provided the driving force for the likes of Alfredo Rodriguez, Sidesteppers and Carlos Valdez.

A co-founder of the UK first ever Latin band, Valdez, Pla formed his own hard-hitting ensemble in 1988 and the line-up now includes some of the UK’s most fiery players, alongside the maestro himself on percussion.

Roberto Pla was born in Barranquilla on Colombia's northern Atlantic coast, an area rich in music and folklore. As a boy Roberto studied percusion with Pompelio Rodriguez, at that time Colombia's greatest percussionist.

In 1964 he left Barranquilla to study music at the National University of Bogota, and while he was there he became an active session musician playing with the best bands in his country including Los Ocho de Colombia. From 1968-78 he played drum kit with Orquesta Lucho Bermudez, Colombia's leading big band, with whom he toured Latin America and the States, recorded numerous albums and appeared weekly on Colombian TV.

In 1979 Roberto left Colombia for New York where he became a busy salsa session percussionist working with amongst others Orquesta La Tradicion in 1980 the atractions of the European pop scene drew him to London where he joined the jazz-fusion band Cayenne, and Latin-funksters Gonzalez (World Tour).

1982 he was touring the world with pop megastars Boney M. since that Roberto has been resident in the U.K. Artist that he has played and toured with include Joe Strummer (Ex Clash) with whom he featured in the French film 'I Hired a Contract Killer', Caribbean Soca star Arrow (Europe & U.S Tour) Spanish pop band Radio Futura, Japanese duo The Frank Chickens, and rock heavyweights Motorhead (with whom he featured in the film 'Eat the Rich'.)

In 1987 he toured Japan and the far east with the legendary Slim Gaillard, and performed in North Africa with Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez. He has also recorded for Kate Bush and M. People. In 1991-2 he toured Europe and America with Virgin Records-signed pop singer Sonny Southon. In summer '93 he recorded and toured Europe with Bluenote-signed rap act US3.

He has also toured Europe and America with legendary percussionist Carlos 'Patato' Valdez and Fania Allstars vocalist Adalberto Santiago, Azuquita and Tito Allen. In 1998 he toured Europe with Sidestepper and the Nuyorican Poets. In November '99 Roberto toured China with Trevor Watts' Moire Music.

In September/October 2000 Roberto toured Canada, USA, Central and South America, and Caribbean Islands with Trevor Watts was a founding member of the UK's first salsa band Valdez.

Nirk Molina better known as ‘Nirk' was born in Monteria-Colombia. He is a singer, percussionist and accordion player. Nirk comes from a music family, with his brothers taking after their father Rosendo Martinez (Euphonium Player of ALFREDO GUTIERREZ) and also from his mother's side which means “Music has always been present for this gentleman”. 

At the age of 3 his siblings taught him to play the Guacharaca. At the age of 7 Nirk becomes the Winner, besides Alfredo Gutierrez as Guacharaca player at the Vallenato Festival in San Jacinto Bolivar, Colombia. Nirk became very popular in Monteria as he showed his amazing skills as a musician, he played in many local bands as he grew up. 

In the 1990s he decides to do the Military Service at the age of 17 leaving in 1992, Nirk always kept his music alive during the Military Service. Later in 1993 Nirk heard that maestro Maximo Jimenez was searching for a musician to tour around Europe, Nirk decides to take the opportunity to travel besides Maximo Jimenez and accompanied him to Vienna Austria and also around Europe and played in various charity and community events, Festivals and many other events. Thanks to this amazing journey Nirk ends up in the UK, he feels grateful with Maximo Jimenez and also with the UK which became his new home.

Nirk settles down in the UK and starts his English studies. In the year 2000 he formed Los Chicos Del Vallenato band and starts to show London the native Colombian Vallenato music. Through many years work with his nusic, Nirk has gained a good reputation and is now well known in the Latin American Community.

The Vallenato All Stars UK is the most recent project Nirk has created, bringing together great exponents of the Vallenato genre in the UK. Nirk has been playing for a long time, playing all kinds of Vallenato styles, Traditional & Modern and other styles of music such as Tropical music, Cumbia music, Salsa music and Carlos Vives poppy style of Vallenato. Nirk has participated and taken the folkloric Vallenato to some prestigious places, such as the Reading Festival, BBC Womad Festival, BBC White City Festival, Dartford Festival and many others.

Nirk' as a percussionist has accompanied many famous international Artists from the Colombian Vallenato Scene: Los Embajadores Vallenatos, Alex Manga & Los Diablitos, Luis Mateus, Los Gigantes Del Vallenato, Los Inquietos and El Binomio De Oro, Rafael Orozco & Israel Romero.

His objective, together with his fellow musicians, is to make the amazing Vallenato music better known everywhere, while representing his culture and his beautiful country.

Fernando Suarez “Kinacho” is originally from Cartago (Valle del Cauca – Colombia). He took his first lessons of piano and musical theory in the Pedro Morales Pino conservatoire in his home city. He then travelled to Bogotá where he studied at the conservatory of The Nacional University of Colombia. 

While in Bogotá he joined several bands where he played Jazz and popular and romantic music while travelling around the country. In 1984 he travelled to London with his own band “Barrio Latino”, which introduced the English audience to Colombian music. His first concert was at the Islington Town Hall on the 11th of June, which was fully sold out, and then at the Jubilee Gardens Festival. 

After this, many they were hired many times and had a busy month playing in a range of events, festivals, clubs and parties. While in Islington Town Hall’s concert, He met again with Roberto Pla – then director of the band “Sonido de Londres” – and joins it to play piano and bass until its dissolution. He then joined Pla’s new band “Roberto Pla Latin Jazz Ensemble” and played there until he formed his own band “Palenke” with Lisandro Zapata in 1990. Two years later Adriana Santana joined as main singer. 

As Latin music boomed around the globe, Palenke was active and busy for 18 years, traveling through England, Europe, Asia and Africa, and carrying with them the joy that this music transmits to other cultures and people.

Aside from playing with bands, Kinacho has been working on music production after his studies of music technology in Morley College and Goldsmiths. He remains active with his new band “Kinashow”

List of Bands and projects ‘Kinacho’ has worked with:

Barrio Latino, Palenke Band, Sonido de Londres, Roberto Pla Latin Jazz Ensamble, La Clave, Robin Jones’s band, Clem Curtis and The Foundations, Sexteto Café, ChocolateArmenteros, Alfredo Rodriguez, Lola Rueda, Jorge Bravo, Oswaldo Macia, Andares Film by Alejandra Jimenez,

Luz Elena Caicedo from Cali Colombia is one of London’s most accomplished and versatile Latin American singers, as well as an ethnomusicologist and events organizer. 

She fronts and leads her own two bands, the renowned Conjunto Sabroso Salsa band which she has successfully run for over 20 years, helping them to become a household name in the UK, and Matices Latinos Quartet, a more acoustic project focusing on folkloric and traditional Latin American rhythms. She created and directs The Latin American Community Choir. She also founded and launched Cimarron Festival in 2008, a cultural festival that celebrates the African cultural legacy in Latin America, specially through music and dance.

Her ethnomusicology Masters dissertation 'Cantaoras' Guardianas de La Tradicion focused on the importance of female singers within 'Currulao', one of the main Afro-Colombian musical traditions of the Pacific coast.

Growing up in London through the 1980´s, as the daughter of Colombian migrants whose father arrived in London in October 1973, she always felt that her life was very much linked to music and dancing, She was a Latin American folk dancer and used to sing and play guitar in small festivals before starting her own band. 

She formed Conjunto Sabroso back in 1995, she had always wanted a style of Salsa music that was different from anything that existed in London at that time. She remembers travelling to New York in 1994 and seeing the legend that was Johnny Pachego and his band, an ensemble that included congas, bongos, trumpets, Cuban Tres and piano, she was totally blown away. She knew from that moment that she wanted a band just like that, which didn't exist in London at the time. There was also very few salsa bands in London with female lead singers, most were fronted by men. That following year, she travelled back to Colombia and wrote down a list of the songs that she wanted to sing and formed the band as soon as she got back to London. 

When Conjunto Sabroso started, they really made an impact, they had an old school Nuyorican sound and their music was and still is very danceable. Back in the 90's, they had a gig almost every weekend, with a 10 piece band, which is probably unthinkable now, but it was a different time and it was exciting to be one of the early pioneers in London's salsa scene, particularly fronted and co-led by a female musician.

With Conjunto Sabroso she has travelled and played in Festivals in China and Kenya and has played in London and toured with her band and as part of a bigger band format (Bilongo All Stars) around Europe, Luz Elena singing backing chorus, with a list of ‘who is who’ from the Salsa legends and Latin music firmament (still alive or departed) from New York, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Venezuela: Adalberto Santiago, Henry Fiol, Jose Mangual Jr & Jimmy Sabater, Tito Gomez, Tito Nieves, Maelo Ruiz, Willie Gonzalez, Roberto Torres, Cano Estremera, Luisito Carrion, Pedro Arroyo, Luis Felipe Gonzalez, Rodolfo Aicardi. Conjunto Sabroso is still going strong today and is one of the longest running Salsa bands in London.