Kali Mutsa at their recent performance at Bar Mori Bellavista. Photo by Kendal Montgomery.
A swarm of imagination, esotericism, gypsy shamanism…timeless. That is how I would describe Kali Mutsa, the recent musical project by Celine Reymond and Cristóbal Montes, which has been preforming these past few months on various Santiago stages.
As many will note, Celine is well known actress, however, her versatility and creativity has led her to develop her musical side with the expertise of Cristóbal Montes, who´s been in charge of materializing this restless woman´s imagination.
"We´re the ones playing under the fig tree on San Juan´s day," said Celine in response to my questioning about the project. And it´s Kali Mutsa that is shrouded in mystery, ancestry, made-up stories with colorful legends; all five members have a special name in this band, Cristóbal is Sandoje, the clarinetist is Matcho Mayta, the violinist on their Myspace page appears as Saray, though I heard them call her Danka, and the tuba player is Angel Calahumana. Celine is Kali Mutsa of course.
It´s not easy to get an exact idea of this band, but it´s not necessary, because it´s like a visceral subject, something that is experienced. Although some lyrics are clearly rooted in the rural world—as is the case in my favorite "Cumbia de Pichi," which talks of people making a pact with the devil—others mix the vocalist´s imaginations with Aymaras legends or gypsy affairs, achieving a rather well-combined cultural image; and with the music, an electronic touch with excellent arrangements, some songs in Romani, the journey goes from the Altiplano to Turkey.
Just as Cristóbal pointed out, they´re like neo-crossbred orphans, trying to reinvent a culture in accordance with the present, which translates to their mixtures being half-apocalyptic circuses.
While Celine is an actress and it shows, especially in her performances—dressed in a leopard-print body suit with red heels, bright blue eye shadow, equal to her lipstick, and a golden tooth, a most exaggerated Bollywood style—the band´s musical expertise gives the project a lot of potential to prosper far beyond being just a new fad for the actress, as some may think. Matcho, Saray and Sandoje, aside from playing with Kali Mutsa, also play for the excellent "Orquesta de la Memoria"; Saray plays with "La Mano Aneja," a popular gypsy-music band, as well, so I imagine they´re constantly practicing.
With only one year of playing together and eight live performances, starting January this year, the project is going well, slowly but surely. We´ll be announcing their upcoming performances on our calendar, so stay tuned, or check out their Facebook page, which is updated often.
|
|
