“La Bamba” a success in Poland

A very familiar chord progression delighted Latin American audiences behind the stage mounted in the middle of the steppe.

“ La Bamba ,” the famous Jarocho song that made rock and roll star Ritchie Valens famous in the 1950s , was played by a group of young musicians from the mountains of Poland . Rehearsals for the First International Festival of Classical and Folk Music “Zhezkiik,” had just begun in the province of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan .

Hoverna

, a quartet formed by musicians from the mountainous areas of southern Poland, were performing the Jarocho anthem in an improvised dressing room among white tents installed at the Ulytau natural and cultural reserv e, an emblematic place located in the central region of Kazakhstan, where the Festival took place, bringing together 11 folk music bands from different countries.

The young Polish musicians proved that the old rock song is still capable of captivating people from all around the world, regardless of language or geographical borders.

One of the band members, Chris Tomasiak , stated that the song was very well known in Poland, often played at parties and other special occasions.

“It’s a very popular song to dance to, and we play it often at weddings; people know it everywhere we go,”

stated the young man after drawing the attention of his fellow musicians and a few curious bystanders while preparing for the concert.

The Takinan ensemble , a group of Peruvians living in Switzerland who promote Peru’s traditional music in Europe , also joined in the interpretation of “La Bamba” with their violins and percussion.

“The world isn’t as big as you might think,” commented Jeff Nevin

, director of the Mariachi Champaña Nevin group, at a press conference in company of other musicians prior to the festival, organized by the Kazakh government.

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