Miami, FL. (April 18, 2023)– Global music icon Carlos Vives presents his new album, Escalona: Nunca Se Había Grabado Así, representing a 30-year journey towards his roots and the milestones that made him an ambassador of the Colombian sound worldwide. Three decades ago, Vives starred in a television series inspired by the life and work of the famed Rafael Escalona, composer of vallenato folklore hymns such as “El Testamento,” “Jaime Molina”and “La Casa en el Aire,” among many others. The masterful and emotional performances cemented himself as the new voice of the genre.
Listen to the album “Escalona: Nunca Se Había Grabado Así” HERE
Three decades later, and as part of the celebration commemorating his 30 years in music, Carlos summoned his best musicians to put together the ideal team of vallenato, the same one that has always been with him on his path to successes: La Provincia. Together with Egidio Cuadrado, he began a new adventure to find Escalona’s lost notebook in order to re-record the classics that catapulted him to stardom in 1993. Motivated by the memory and nostalgia of that time, Vives went into the studio to make new versions of these songs, incorporating the sound he created alongside La Provincia, the sound he is recognized for worldwide.
Escalona: Nunca Se Había Grabado Así is an album that explores 12 of Rafael Escalona’s most memorable compositions and a tribute by Armando Zabaleta to Rafael Escalona. The journey to his roots began in Villanueva, Guajira, where Carlos Vives, after meeting his friend Egidio Cuadrado, took on the search for a very special notebook that contained, in the form of a literary diary, new musical verses for Escalona’s classics. The modern production includes the discoveries and sound connections that were protagonists in the Colombian music revolution.
For years, Dina Luz, Egidio’s sister and the wife of Rafael Escalona, cared for the notebook, inspiring Vives and his band La Provincia to re-record with their own sound. For Carlos, it was necessary to redefine the sound of Escalona, so that new generations can discover his songs, just as it happened in the 90s with the success of Los Clásicos de La Provincia.
After the success of “La Historia,” the first single off the album, “El Carro Ford” follows as the album’s focus track. The song narrates the desire of a man to buy a car that allows him to carry out all his festive plans. It is a cheerful song, with candid lyrics and great memories, which invites you to travel, share with friends and party.
With this release, Vives kicks off an emotional year full of celebrations and festivities that will evoke nostalgia, but that will also exalt the achievements and the path traveled during these 30 years by the greatest figure of Colombian music, Carlos Vives.
TRACKLIST “ESCALONA: NUNCA SE HABÍA GRABADO ASÍ”
La Historia
Carmen Gómez
El carro Ford
La Mona del Cañaguate
El Villanuevero
La Nostalgia de Poncho
Jaime Molina
Mala suerte
El destierro de Simón
La golondrina
El Pirata del Loperena
El Testamento
Contestación a la brasilera
