The Magdalena river or “Yuma”, as named by ancient indigenous communities of Colombia, is a musical river. What the Mississippi did for Blues, the Magdalena did for Cumbia, a folk music genre that was born in this river during Colonial times, spreading all over the world in the 1960s and 1970s.
Since then, Cumbia has been mixed by DJs and bands worldwide, played at club dance floors, music festivals, folk carnivals, and in movies everywhere. Cumbia is an uplifting afro percussive music that is key to the soundtrack of Latin America, crossing from México to Argentina expressing joy, and offering itself to rituals and traditions. Many of these are reminiscent of ancient times when people from Africa were brought to these shores as slaves, meeting with indigenous communities living alongside the river while sharing music to free their souls from the oppressive colonial regime.