Despite the fact that it was published in 2000 , this full-length review is still being featured on this web site, because it contains the most complete and descriptive information about a live performance by Los Llaneros published so far. Additional reviews are available in the printed press kit.

"Latin Sounds Not To Be Missed"   by Steve Jones

"Cry no more, cloud of water, for every sorrow is healed."

"The sun said to the moon: Don't go out at night, for women of good reputation stay home!'"

"On the Arauca River I heard a hawk sigh as it remembered the girls of Camaguán."

I returned home from tonight's concert by Los Llaneros, determined to learn more about the culture that produced those strange and magical lyrics, set to melodies and rhythms which captivated me during the entire concert. I fixed myself some iced tea and settled down with an atlas and an encyclopedia. My head still filled with the ensemble's rich sounds and energy, I read that Simón Bolívar, whose Liberation Army had soldiers who hailed from all over Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and Ecuador, touted his Llanero soldiers as the toughest and most committed of them all.

I learned about the nomadic ways of the first inhabitants of the Llanos, Indians of Caribbean descent who were finally absorbed into the sedentary ways of the Jesuit colonizers who introduced cattle ranching to the region in the Sixteenth Century. The Jesuits also brought with them the harp, an instrument which has since been incorporated into one of the most compelling musical traditions I have ever known to come out of Latin America.

The Llanos are the savannas of Colombia and Venezuela, a vast expanse of grasslands and gallery forests that encompasses the watershed of the great Orinoco River and its tributaries. It is a land of independent people who have always lived in complete or relative isolation and have forged a distinct and vibrant culture whose musical expression was brought to Cedar Rapids by Los Llaneros. The ensemble's leader, "La Negra Karin," was the first surprise: a tall, slender blonde who might as well have stepped out of a Swedish fashion magazine, appeared on stage and left us all with goose bumps as she sang her crystal-clear, a cappella rendition of the mournful tune "Orinoco."

A blond woman singing in Spanish? A blond woman nicknamed "Negra?" Our cultural perceptions were stretched and our minds opened, as we later learned that "Negra" is a third-generation Colombian whose German grandparents settled in that South American nation in the early 1900's. She is as Colombian as they come. Her colleagues - Henry Benavides (Colombian), Juan Carlos Gené (Venezuelan), and Edgar East (Panamanian) - joined her after the first number. The sounds the ensemble produced were simply mesmerizing. I have never heard a harp play such exuberant chords and syncopations, or a cuatro (small, four-stringed guitar) leap with such joy and tempo, or maracas perform such an intricate dance of rhythms. Through their music, Los Llaneros bring to life the region they represent: the Llanero culture of cowboys and nomads, the land of the red ibis and the capibara, a region of droughts and long rainy seasons. They also included in their repertoire selections from other regions of Colombia and Venezuela. This is a show not to be missed. It will be repeated once again tonight at 8 p.m. in Linn Hall, Kirkwood Community College.

Reprinted with permission from The Cedar Rapids Gazette, July 2000