Roots & Wires Presents...Rio Mira

10 Piece Afro-Pacifica Marimba Band from the Borderlands of Colombia and Ecuador.

at Taos Mesa Brewing Mothership

September 25, 2018 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
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Time: 7:00pm     Day: Tuesday     Doors: 6:00pm     Ages: All Ages / Bar with ID     Price: $12
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ROOTS+WIRES PRESENTS...

RIO MARIA

Rio Mira is a marimba-centered supergroup founded by artists from Ecuador and Colombia to highlight the music of the El Pacífico region, which extends along the Pacific coasts of the two countries. Taking its name from the river which runs from Ecuador into Colombia, the band focuses in particular on the coastal city of Esmeraldas and its lesser-known contribution to the Afro-Pacific cultural equation. Beginning in the 16th century, El Pacífico was a haven for cimarrones, enslaved persons who had escaped from shipwrecked ships or plantations. Over the years, the region's emblematic marimba music came to uniquely represent the cimarrones' Afro-Pacific identity and the West African traditions they had preserved. Today, UNESCO recognizes the music (along with associated dances and chants) as Intangible Cultural Heritage. The heart of this music is the marimba, made of chonta palm wood. In Rio Mira, it's played by two renowned musicians: Esteban Copete, who is Afro-Colombian, and Larri Preciado, who's Afro-Ecuadorian. As with many Latin-American instruments, the marimba both performs a melodic and rhythmic role in the music and, inherently, tells the story of its own Bantu roots.