 
CELSO PINA Y SU RONDA BOGOTA This came out in 2001 but is new to me, "the first recordings and first hits" by the young button accordeonista from Bogota, Colombia, Celso Piña. His terrain is the rich tradition of cumbia and he comes on strong with an earnest voice and a solid band. There's acoustic guitar and a booming bass and percussion with a relentless cumbia pulse going. The terrain is familiar but there's room for interesting little sorties within it: great bursts of timbales or bongo and, by turns, a wistful or wild clarinet. The accordeon isn't to the fore particularly, though there are echoes of Lisandro Meza on some cuts. A couple of standards: "Tu culpa" by Anibal Velasquez, and the Jose Barros classic "La Piragua," are delivered with panache. I imagine these guys are club favourites in their home turf. The last track, "La Despreciada" has an African-sounding guitar which is interesting. This is not Champeta Criolla (the popular Colombian music from the wrong side of the tracks, down by the docks) but maybe has been influenced by it. Or alternately, those guitar styles were there already in the indigenous sound. -- Doctor Rhythm
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