In the accompanying notes ‘The wonderful world of Abelardo Carbonó’, the anthological album published in 2013 by the Spanish label Vampisoul that marked the definitive rediscovery of the Colombian musician, one of the compilers, Étienne Sevet, makes a fairly accurate description of what it implies enter the psychedelic planet Carbonó. It was the first time that I listened to an album of his. And he remembers it like this: “And then, like an airplane reaching the speed of sound, the album reached ‘Carolina’. Suddenly, everything around was bright, bright, green, and despite the Parisian winter, everything was extremely warm. Days passed and it was impossible not to listen to that music over and over again, and not pay attention to every detail & rdquor ;.
Abelardo Carbonó, the man capable of dressing the Parisian winter as the tropics, He died last Monday at his home in Barranquilla. Officially, because of the complications derived from the covid, but his relatives know that the death of his wife in April had a lot to do with it, also because of the virus. Carbonó is dead and his relative anonymity should not distract from his stature as an artist, his influence on the generations of Colombians who today dominate the Latin music scene and, above all, his irreducible originality. Carbonó has died and the press of his country has dismissed him with the most varied epithets, “King of psychedelia champetúa & rdquor ;,” father of the champeta & rdquor ;, “Father of Afro-Caribbean psychedelics & rdquor; and “architect of the coastal psychedelia & rdquor ;, among others. To avoid confusion, let the reader keep three concepts from this superlative cascade: “champeta & rdquor ;,“ afrocaribe & rdquor; and “psychedelia & rdquor ;.
An original artist
“Carbonó was part of a generation of Colombian musicians who they bet on something very interesting, which was the mix of psychedelic guitar –both Peruvian cumbia and rock psychedelia– with African music, in her case with a lot of sense of humor & rdquor ;, he says Jaime Andrés Monsalve, musical director of the National Radio of Colombia. “He was an absolutely original guy. When he started working on his proposal, people described him simply as weird, and although the African component is very clear in his music, he said that he had no idea, that he did not listen to African music & rdquor ;. They are things that happen. The musician they describe as the father of the champeta, that genre that drink mainly of African music, He was not aware of the African ingredient in his music. “There is a Cartagena side of the champeta and a Barranquilla side. He was the father of the second & rdquor ;, says Monsalve.
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Carbonó lived a life away from the spotlight, fame and public recognition. “He was a man nice but of few words, He didn’t express himself very well, and he never had major media appearances. At the time they hit a couple of songs, ‘Carolina’, and ‘To another dog with that bone’, but it did not reach the whole country & rdquor ;. As his compositions did not give him a living, for many years he made a living with a trio of boleros who offered their services in the Barranquilla’s Musicians Park. And before that he had been a policeman. He himself said that he got on the buses in uniform to sing.
The first responsible for rescuing their music and making it transcend borders were those responsible for the English label Soundway, which included three of his songs in the compilation ‘Palenque palenque’, in 2009. Then came the tours of Europe and recognition in his land beyond Barranquilla. Then, ‘The wonderful world of Abelardo Carbonó’. Then more touring and more recognition. His wonderful world, after all, was called to set afire in the frozen northern winters.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com