the LIFESTYLE

Welcome to the first installment of Argentina Thursdays!! For the next several Thursdays I will be showcasing tracks I did while in Buenos Aires, Argentina during a study abroad in 2009-2010. Many of the tracks are collaborative efforts with local artists and the period was a truly enjoyable time of personal growth and cultural exchange.

I am proud to present the first track of Argentina Thursdays, Pista 21

Como un tizón encendido

ardiendo dentro mi sangre

tu sombra viene conmigo

y no la puedo arrancar.

As if it were a charred coal

burning inside of my blood

your shadow comes with me

and I cannot get it out

Pista 21 is named for the file of the song in my itunes I used to sample. The real name of the original track is “Zamba de un Amor en Vuelo,” or “Song of a Love in Flight,” a folk tune written and performed by Tamara Castro.

Tamara’s track is an awesome example of Zamba, a popular folk music in Argentina.

My version includes a guitar sample from the original, piano from my talented friend Leopoldo Obrégon, and vocals by my girlfriend at the time.

Has anyone else found that music or art or something else has enabled him or her access to cultural exchange? Music is one of my primary languages of reflection and response, what are some of yours?

Reflection and Response

-P