Cumbia: The Colombian Rhythm That Conquered Sanremo

Angelina Mango won the 74th Sanremo Festival with 'La noia,' a song written by Madame that prominently features cumbia, a tri-ethnic musical genre originating in Colombia centuries ago. Cumbia blends African percussion, Indigenous flute melodies (canna di milio and cornamuse), and Spanish harmonic and choreographic elements, dating back to around 1538. Its roots lie in the cumbiamba, a collective ritual dance performed barefoot on beaches by Afro-Colombians around bonfires. The term 'cumbia' may derive from 'kumbé,' referring to colonial plantations where African slaves created rhythmic sounds, or from the Bantu word 'cumbé,' a rhythm and dance from Equatorial Guinea. Musicologist Narciso Garay in 1930 linked it to 'cumbé,' while Colombian musicologist Guillermo Carbò Ronderos remained uncertain about its etymology in 2006. Today, cumbia has absorbed European influences and is danced as a couple's dance in Colombia, the Amazon region of Peru, Argentina, and Chile, with dancers facing each other, advancing and retreating without contact. In Italy, cumbia has inspired artists like Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti, whose frontman Davide Toffolo described it as 'simple music, like punk,' and collaborated with Lorenzo Jovanotti on 'In questa grande città – La prima cumbia.' Adriano Celentano also dedicated 'La cumbia di chi cambia' (2011) to the genre, written by Jovanotti. Italy hosts the Istituto Italiano di Cumbia, a collective of contemporary cumbia musicians.