Smithsonian Folkways Releases Album By Venezuela's "La Sardina De Naiguata"

New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Smithsonian Folkways) The album "¡Parranda! Venezuelan Carnival Music" by the Venezuelan band La Sardina de Naiguatá will be released by Smithsonian Folkways today, June 19.

The album, part of Smithsonian's Tradiciones/Traditions Series, includes 14 tracks of traditional Venezuelan music in genres like Calypso, parranda and fulía.

"¡Parranda! Venezuelan Carnival Music" was recorded in Caracas and mastered in the U.S. with support from the Chevron Corporation, the Smithsonian Institution, Venezuela's Center for Cultural Diversity and the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the U.S.

A delegation from the Smithsonian Institution traveled to Venezuela in 2010 to help with the recordings, including director Daniel Sheehy, musical director Alexander Livinally, sound engineer Peter Reinier and cameraman Charles Weber.

La Sardina de Naiguatá: Origins and Tradition
One of the most popular celebrations in Venezuelan is the Entierro de la Sardina ("Burial of the Sardine"), a unique tradition in the town of Naiguatá in the coastal state of Vargas. From this town and celebration emerged the remarkable group La Sardina de Naiguatá (The Sardine of Naiguatá).

The group was founded in the 1970s by trumpet player Ricardo Díaz, who built upon the local legacy of Afro-Caribbean drumming by adding brass, electric bass, keyboard, and a women's chorus to create La Sardina de Naiguatá, the musical group behind the town's annual cycle of public celebrations, including Carnival, Corpus Christi, and the Feast of St. John the Baptist.

The ensemble is expected to kick off a tour of several U.S. cities in late June of 2012.