The ninth edition of the Cranea Music Conference and Festival couldn’t have a better opening act. Nestor Lo y Los Caminantes recently returned from a month-long tour of Europe — the first for the Paraguayan band.
Dressed in traditional Paraguayan ponchos, Nestor Lo and his band played in front of a local and international audience at the Casa Colombo club.
Cranea Musica is an annual gathering focused on educational talks, alongside networking opportunities and concerts featuring artists from the wide spectrum of Paraguayan music. It has been a catalyst in a joint effort to help Paraguayan musicians break into the global music industry. Lucas Toriño is the founder and director of Cranea Musica. Toriño said, aside from the work of building bridges with every other aspect of the music industry across Latin America and beyond, the focus is to put Paraguayan music on the global map.
“The Guaraní language, the traditional aspects, many of the music projects perform incorporating traditional attire, but above all, the beauty and sweetness of communicating with their own language. When you visit the country, you can hear it—Guaraní mixed with Spanish. It’s a powerful tool for anyone willing to embrace it and engage with other sensibilities and cultures, Toriño said.
Singer Willian Verneque took part in a panel discussion about music streaming. He started composing songs five years ago, and today he’s one of the top Paraguayan artists on all digital platforms, thanks in part to a song that became a hit in Mexico. Verneque said his Paraguayan identity had a lot to do with his success. “It’s the bohemian spirit; they’re all very bohemian and poetic here. If you look at the country’s great artists from the past who sang in the music styles, such as *guarania* and *polca*, it’s all about love, heartbreak and nostalgia. So, even though I consider myself a pop artist, that bohemian side is the most characteristic trait of my country”, he said.
Harpist Sixto Corbalán and his trio played a set at the Paraguayan-American Cultural Center, in an evening called “Jazz Night”. The national instrument of Paraguay is the harp. Corbalán said, as a harpist, he was born with a musical identity carrying the weight of tradition from the twentieth century.
“It’s a constant challenge, but thank God we have an established repertoire that audiences always look forward to. And then there’s the musical drive I feel as a musician, as an artist, the desire to push the boundaries as far as possible, to let the artistic journey unfold”, Corbalán said.
Alfredo Caxaj is co-artistic director of SunFest, one of Canada’s most important world music and jazz festivals held in London, Ontario. He was one of several international guests invited to Cranea’s gathering held in Asunción, Paraguay’s capital. Caxaj said he’s quite familiar with the Paraguayan harp tradition and its rich legacy, but visiting the country and seeing the wide range of music live is the best way to find out what’s going on here.
“Paraguayan music, pretty much nobody knows what it is. And coming to the mecca where the music is produced is truly an amazing experience, to see the different musical expressions from traditional to rock to heavy metal. I think it’s a good learning experience for us. And I think now we have the commitment of, in one way or another, making sure that many of these artists eventually could play in our venues, in our festivals, in our clubs,” Caxaj said.
This edition of Cranea Música conference and festival featured thirty music projects, everything from traditional ensembles, jazz groups, rock bands, electronic music and solo artists. Among them was the duet Purahéi Soul, who got a lot of attention recently during the World Cup ceremony in Los Angeles, invited to sing Paraguay’s national anthem. Purahéi Soul singer Jenni Hicks said Paraguayan culture is growing and not just in music. Across all arts, Paraguay is experiencing a period of great creativity and a search for a reinterpretation of identity.
“We’re coming to understand that culture is fluid, that we can find a way to define ourselves within tradition but with a fresh perspective, one that reflects the times we live in. And I find that incredible: there are so many new compositions, fusions of folk music and lyrics sung in Guaraní, Jopará, Nivaclé, and other indigenous languages. It’s a beautiful moment,” Hicks said.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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