Manuel Obregon and La Orquesta de la Papaya
cdRoots Home Page
More music from Belize and Central America
Search for music
 Need Help?

Manuel Obregón and La Orquesta de la Papaya
America Central en Concierto
$17.99

A live recording by a great pan-American band with members from across central America. This is the debut album of the first and only regional band from Central America: La Orquestra de la Papaya. Recorded live during a series of concerts at the National Auditorium in San Jose Costa Rica in which the musicians utilized a total of 50 instruments, many of which were handmade by the members of the group.

The album contains 14 original and traditional Central American songs including new arrangements of Belizean classics like "Shall I baby" by Wilfred Peters and "Naguya Nei" by Paul Nabor.

Featuring musicians from the seven Central American countries, including Belizeans Bredda David Obi and Mohobub, Guatemala's Lenín Fernández, Nicaraguans Marcos, Yader and Domingo Martínez; Salvador's Oscar "El Chele" Menjívar; Panamanians Ornelis Cortés, Raúl Vital, Antonio de la Cruz and Miguel Angel Leguisamo; Hondurans Juan Astor Norales and Ramón Eduardo Cedeño and the group’s leader and musical director, Costa Rica’s noted Jazz pianist Manuel Obregon.

La Orquesta de la Papaya was born in January of 2002 through the efforts of Obregón, who was able to bring together 13 musicians that combine the Mayan beat of Guatemala with the songs of the African-origin Garífuna peoples of Belize and Honduras and Nicaraguan marimbas, as well as other styles from the isthmus. This band is an unprecedented project, because it melts the rich and varied cultural expressions of one of the world's most fragmented regions, in spite of its relatively small size, with 523,000 square km and 36 million inhabitants.

Obregón's dream came true with the first series of concerts with the band at Costa Rica's National Auditorium in February, which led to the recording of the band’s first album: Manuel Obregón y la Orquesta de la Papaya, recently released in Central America and Mexico.

"I am pleased because I am experiencing something that I have always believed in: the unity of Central Americans" said Guatemalan, Lenin Fernández, the group's percussionist.

Your orders are placed on a secure server, so your information is safe and private.

Please note!
 Most CDs have been imported from Europe or Asia. They are not all shrink-wrapped, and I am not going to con you by wrapping them here just to make you think they have been sterilized in America. We guarantee that the CDs and the contents are all brand new and in perfect condition. Whenever I can, I use recycled shipping materials. They may not look as pretty on the outside, but they save money and keep the trash dumps a little bit emptier.