Son Palenque

Son Palenque is a legendary Afro-Colombian Band, founded in the beginning of the 80’s in the city of Cartagena (Caribbean Coast), by the singer and composer Justo Valdez. Since then, the 7 piece band has recorded 8 LP's of traditional Afro music, mixed with African and Psychedelic influences. All their members are from San Basilio de Palenque, a very important village in the Afro-Colombian history. Palenque de San Basilio was founded by black Maroons (a village established in 1706 by runaway slaves near Cartagena), and has preserved many African traditions, as an Afro-Hispanic Creole language, the only one existing today in the Americas. The band performances are a journey through the history of Afro-Colombian music and culture, and the history of the musical exchanges between Africa and America, during centuries of colonial history. Justo Valdez, lead vocalist and composer, comes from a prestigious musical dynasty. The band recorded their first single in 1982 for the record label Orbe and were considered pioneers because most of their songs were sung in Palenquero. The group continued and recorded two LPs for label Felito, where Son Palenque incorporated percussion from San Basilio de Palenque with influences from Africa, the French Caribbean and Soukous from Congo. On the Demo CD we find three songs “El Sapo”, “Palenque Palenque” (with Michi Sarmiento on Sax!!) and “Dame un Trago” recorded by Eduardo Dávila.