Rancho Aparte: Colombian Chirimía Music

Abozaos, polkas, danzas, rebulú, Contradanzas, Jugas, and other indigenous sounds are the rhythms of Colombia’s foremost Chirimia Brass Band from the Pacific Coast of Colombia’s Chocó department. The ensemble’s high energy stage show is a favorite throughout Colombia and the world over. The group has excited audiences at the recent Petronio Alvarez Festival in Cali, Colombia, and as far away as the WOMEX Festival in Budapest and FujiRock Festival in Japan.

In the far west of Colombia, where the rainforests meet the Pacific, lies the Chocó department, a land set apart from the rest of the nation by the Andes mountains, creating a historic refuge for Afro-Colombians and Indigenous people. The region still boasts the largest Afro-Colombian and Afro-Indigenous population in the nation, with a unique musical culture heavily influenced by West African sounds. Though the region’s best-known musical export is champeta music, chirimía is the real mainstay. Brash and full of youthful energy, Rancho Aparte has emerged as one of the most exciting contemporary chirimía ensembles since the septet formed in 2005 in Quibdo, Chocó’s capital city.

Chirimía is the swinging brass band sound that’s heard during carnival, saint’s day festivities, and civic celebrations in Chocó. Creolized descendants of the military bands first brought by the Spanish, these ensembles are centered around the chirimía, a kind of double-reed oboe or shwam that gives them their unique, skirling sound. Rancho Aparte draws its repertoire from a variety of traditional sources—abozaos, polkas, danzas, rebulú, contradanzas, jugas—yet another reflection of the region’s hybrid musical influences. If the instrumentation and some of the repertoire reflect European origins, the improvisation, call-and-response vocals, tempos, and tumbao (swing) have deep African roots.

Rancho Aparte was founded by charismatic singer/composer Dino Manuelle, together with a group of musician friends, to take the chirimía sound beyond Chocó, bringing the music to national and international audiences. Today the group consists of Dino Manuelle (vocals), Dyam Palacios and Emer Davila (chimiria), Fredy Cañandas (euphonium), Rodian Rivas (percussion), Rodolfo Romaña (percussion), and Ronal Campaña (cymbals). The group takes its name from a local slang phrase, “hacer rancho aparte,” which roughly translates as “to set up on one’s own”—reflecting their desire to put their own stamp on this music while preserving and respecting its complicated legacy. Live, Rancho Aparte is a first-tier party band, drawing on not only traditional music, but also on all the music they grew up listening to, embracing the swagger and dynamism of salsa, hip hop, and reggaeton in an omnivorous sound they call “funky punk chirimía.”