[ People singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ [ Singing stops ] ♪♪♪ Edgar: My name is Jacob Edgar.

I'm an explorer, but I don't search for lost cities or ancient ruins.

I'm on the quest for a different kind of treasure -- music.

♪ Derrière les montagnes et loin des charmes de l'Espagne ♪ ♪ Je retrouveràis Cochabamba ♪ ♪ Je verrais les femmes et les enfants ♪ As an ethnomusicologist and world music record producer, I travel the globe hunting for the best songs the world has to offer, and I suffer through some of the worst so you don't have to.

♪ Amigo, reste pres de moi ♪ ♪ Cette nuit on va danser tout pres de la muerte ♪ I've got a backstage pass to the world's music, and I won't stop until I've heard it all.

[ Man singing in French ] [ Man singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ I'm on a journey from northern Colombia's ranches and farmlands through the Sierra Nevada mountain range and on to the Caribbean coast.

It's a journey that reveals the amazing diversity of Colombia's geography, culture and music.

[ Singing continues ] ♪♪♪ On my visit to Bogota, Colombia's sprawling capital city, I met up with one of the country's biggest musical stars, Fonseca.

He offered to show me around the small city of Valledupar, the cradle of vallenato, which is a rustic, folksy and distinctly Colombian music style.

♪♪♪ Vallenato has had a huge influence on Fonseca's sound, and the style is close to the hearts of many Colombians.

♪♪♪ ♪ Hoy siento gratitud por el tiempo vivido ♪ ♪ Por la memoria y también por el olvido ♪ I guess a close equivalent to vallenato would be American country music, which also has a connection to the ranching lifestyle, lyrics about heartbreak of lost love and a spirit that reflects pride of place.

And just as American country music symbolizes something deep about American cultural identity, the same holds true for vallenato.

♪ Hoy me siento agradecido ♪ Typically, there are three main musical instruments used in vallenato -- the caja vallenata, a small drum which reflects the African influence, the Guacharaca, a wooden scraper which originated with Colombia's indigenous people, and the accordion from Europe.

The instruments are symbolic of the three core cultural influences in vallenato -- and in Colombia in general.

Lyrical wit and improvization are very important in vallenato, and the greatest vallenato singers are capable of spinning vivid poetry off the top of their heads.

♪ Viva este canto que hoy me ha nacido ♪ Fonseca takes me to the local branch of the Colombian Composers Rights Society, where I'm introduced to Gonzalo "Cocha" Molina, one of the greatest vallenato accordion players.

In fact, Cocha is a rey de reyes, or king of kings, of the accordion.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Every year, the local Vallenato Legend Festival selects the best accordion player.

Fonseca: Every 10 years they make a big contest.

And there's a guy that is called the King of Kings.

So the kings from all of those 10 years compete against each other.

And so now we're going to be with one of them.

That's cool.

[ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ We're going to party in the street, like a really typical party here.

Parranda, what we're gonna do.

Parranda in the street.

Nice.

Sounds good.

And then we're going to a parranda in a house, and everybody's drinking [indistinct].

I'm going to show you.

It's going to be a long night, man.

It's going to be a long night.

[ Indistinct ] Oh, that's great.

With no additions, right?

Right.

The real deal.

The real deal.

Pure vallenato.

♪♪♪ After that warm up, Fonseca takes me to a residential neighborhood to witness firsthand the vallenato parrandas -- jam sessions where families, friends, and neighbors come together to play music, dance, eat -- basically celebrate life.

It sounds great to me.

♪♪♪ Fonseca: So, this is the night of lighting the candles.

It's like the first day of Christmas in Colombia and everybody's just partying.

And I love Valledupar.

I think this is a great place.

This is a great city and everybody is really so nice.

So it's a pleasure to be here.

♪♪♪ How did vallenato get into your life?

I mean, how did vallenato...?

No, it was always in my life.

Vallenato is like something that really comes in your blood.

You always have it with you.

So for me, the Colombian music has always been part of my -- of the soundtrack of my life.

We're trying to conduct this interview, and a crowd is building.

They're noticing that Fonseca is in the neighborhood.

So obviously, the people of Valledupar like him as much as he likes them.

♪♪♪ We have a police guard here... [ Indistinct ] [ Laughs ] ...who's coming up for a photo.

And now all the people can come.

Here they come.

Look, they've already started.

Oh, my goodness.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ This sweet little girl just elbowed me out of the way.

♪♪♪ [ Accordion playing ] [ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ Fonseca, thanks for coming to Valledupar with me.

It was great to meet you.

Jacob.

Thank you very much for coming to Colombia, to Valledupar, to see what's really a party in Valledupar.

And I hope you come back soon.

I hope so, too.

I can't wait.

Thank you very much.

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪♪ [ Man singing in Spanish ] After a long night of parrandas, I've been told that the place to cure your hangover and start the new day right with a hearty breakfast is El Parqueadero -- The Parking Lot -- a funky restaurant that specializes in unusual animal ingredients like turtle, porcupine and iguana.

♪ Que, que, que, que, que, que, que ♪ I love the setting of this restaurant.

You've got chickens walking around.

You've got -- I saw a capybara, which is like a rat-like rodent creature from South America walking around.

And I've heard they've got a little menagerie over here, a zoo.

♪ ...que solía pasear ♪ ♪ Tell me, baby, tell me ♪ ♪ Tu imagen ta en mi memoria ♪ [ Laughs ] Look out for the turtles.

♪ Nunca la podré olvidar ♪ [ Laughs ] ♪ Anny's boogaloo ♪ Last thing I want to start my day off with is getting bit by a boar.

♪ Que cosas tiene la vida ♪ [ Laughs ] Look.

There's some kind of animal.

Oh, here it is.

[ Laughs ] Sorry.

♪ Clarividente es mi sueño ♪ Ow!

Ow!

He's biting me.

I'm here with my new friend, Chabuco, who is also an excellent vallenato singer himself.

And I actually ordered some rabbit this morning.

I haven't had rabbit much before.

And here it is.

Gracias.

So this is going to give me a lot of energy, apparently.

All right.

[ Speaks Spanish ] Things I do for television.

So he's telling me if you eat iguana, it's -- you don't need to take any anesthetic.

If you get an operation, you eat some iguana and you'll feel no pain.

I'm feeling a little pain just thinking about it, honestly.

[ La-33's "Anny's Boogaloo" plays ] ♪♪♪ Edgar: After breakfast, I head over to Alfonso Lopez Square, the site of one of the main stages for Valledupar's famous Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata -- the Vallenato Legends Festival.

The next generation of vallenato kings and queens is being honed by training programs that teach children the art, history, and technique of this revered style.

♪♪♪ One of the best young ensembles is Los Ninos Vallenatos de Turco Hill, which has performed at the White House in front of the Clintons and toured the US and Europe.

Some of the members of the group meet us in the square to demonstrate their talents.

[ Girl singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ It's time to leave Valledupar and hit the road, heading around the Sierra Nevada mountain range southwest and then due north towards the Caribbean.

♪♪♪ [ Man trilling ] ♪♪♪ I'm on my way to a small fishing village near Santa Marta called Taganga, where I'm meeting up with Wilmer Soler, a young former member of a right-wing paramilitary group who has put down his guns and taken up vallenato.

♪♪♪ [ EKA's "Oye Pa' Que Vea" plays ] What are we doing?

We're in -- near Santa Marta, in a small little village by the ocean, and we're going out into the water with the band, sitting on a boat.

See what happens.

It's going to be crazy.

[ Band playing ] ♪♪♪ [ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ Wilmer is part of a government sponsored program called Canta Conmigo -- Sing with Me -- which seeks to reintegrate into society former soldiers from both the paramilitary groups and the leftist rebel guerrillas, or FARC.

Their tool is music, with the idea that singing together can help longtime adversaries bury the hatchet -- or the AK-47, as the case may be.

[ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ You seem like a really nice guy.

It's hard for me to imagine that you were a paramilitary soldier.

¿Es verdad?

[ Laughs ] [ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ As I've seen so often here in Colombia, Wilmer is trying to put the past behind him and make a positive future for himself and his country.

And it's through vallenato music that he's trying to make that happen.

[ Singing in Spanish ] [ Singing ends ] [ Applause ] My vallenato voyage has given me some great insight into this beloved genre, why this music means so much to Colombians, and the role it plays in unifying the country.

It's like a flag or an important historical figure or an ideology.

Vallenato is something that makes Colombians proud of who they are.

♪♪♪ [ Man laughs, speaks Spanish ] ♪♪♪ As night falls, I continue my journey south along the coast, passing by the statue of Columbia's iconic, poofy-haired soccer star, Carlos Valderrama, and on to Barranquilla.

I'm moving away from the rustic sound of vallenato and closer to the powerful rhythms of Africa.

I'm in Barranquilla, a city of just over 1 million people on Colombia's northern Caribbean coast.

It's home to lots of immigrants from around the region and the world, including a surprising number of immigrants from the Middle East and the Arab world.

It's also a very musical city, and some of Colombia's biggest musical stars hail from here, including the mega international superstar Shakira.

[ Man singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ My guide to the city today is Erika Muñoz, whose stage name is EKA, a good friend of mine who's also the lead singer for Sidestepper, who we met in Bogota.

Now, this is Erika's hometown, so she's going to take me around and show me the sights.

We're going to try some local food.

We're going to check out the rehearsals for Carnival, because Barranquilla's Carnival is world famous.

And it also happens to be the second largest Carnival in the world, after Rio de Janeiro.

[ Woman singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ [ Profetas' "Amor y Fortaleza" plays ] Erika Muñoz was exposed to all kinds of music as a child, especially the local champeta style, which is deeply influenced by contemporary African music.

[ Woman singing in Spanish ] When she was younger, Erika became famous across the country as a competitor on a TV singing competition.

But rather than focus on pop music, Erika prefers to make music that is inspired by her cultural roots.

Where are we now?

¿Donde estamos ahora?

All right, we're going to the House of Carnival.

And I hear drums, so I guess they're rehearsing.

They're starting to gear up for Carnival, which is taking place in just a couple of months.

So let's go see what they have going on.

Yeah.

[ Speaking Spanish ] [ Band playing ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ It's a lot of work, partying.

Yeah.

So I'm hungry.

Tengo hambre.

Me, too.

Ahora tengo hambre.

¿Vamos a comer?

Okay.

Should we go eat something?

All right, lets... Yeah.

Please.

...move the party in another direction.

Vamanos.

♪♪♪ A lot of folklore.

♪♪♪ We're going to meet Joe Arroyo later.

What can you tell me about Joe Arroyo?

♪♪♪ I've met a lot of famous musicians over the years, but few have me as starstruck as the one I'm about to meet next.

Joe Arroyo is a living legend of Colombian music, having pioneered a unique blend of salsa and local folkloric rhythms with musical spices from the rest of the Caribbean.

[ Joe Arroyo singing in Spanish ] Joe is notoriously difficult to pin down, and we didn't know until the very last minute that we would be able to get him to show up to meet us.

With the rain ruining our original plan to have Joe Arroyo perform outside, we managed to convince a nearby library, of all places, to clear everyone out of the main hall, close early, and help us push all the tables and chairs aside to set up Joe's 14-piece band for a live performance of one of his classic tracks.

Only in Colombia can music move schedules, tables, even librarians.

[ Singing in Spanish continues ] ♪♪♪ [ Drumsticks clacking ] [ Band playing ] ♪♪♪ Whoo!

♪♪♪ [ Speaks Spanish ] ♪♪♪ [ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Del caribe aflora ♪ ♪ Bella, encantadora ♪ ♪ Con mar y rio ♪ ♪ Una gran sociedad ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Barranquilla hermosa ♪ ♪ Yo te canto ahora ♪ ♪ Con gratitud y amor ♪ ♪ Del cantor al pueblo que adora ♪ ♪♪♪ Edgar: In the song "En Barranquilla Me Quedo," which translates as "I'm Staying in Barranquilla," he tells the story of his decision to settle in Barranquilla and his love for the city and its people.

♪ Tierra linda y tropical ♪ ♪ En Barranquilla me quedo, me quedo a gozar ♪ ♪ En Barranquilla me quedo, me quedo a gozar ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Whoo!

♪♪♪ [ Speaks Spanish ] [ Cheers and applause ] [ Car horn honks ] ♪♪♪ Gracias, Erika, for showing me around your hometown.

I had a lot of fun, from the Carnival rehearsal to the food and, of course, to Joe Arroyo's concert.

That was great.

But now I get to see you perform.

And I love your music.

I'm very, very excited.

And I hope someday, I get to return the favor and show you around my hometown.

So en Barranquilla, no me quedo, lamentablemente, but let's hear your song, "Oye Pa' Que Vea."

"Oye Pa' Que Vea."

All right, Erika Muñoz.

Uno, dos, tres, cuatro.

♪♪♪ Hey!

♪♪♪ [ Vocalizing ] ♪♪♪ [ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ Edgar: I've just experienced a smorgasbord of Colombian music, culture, and travel, from the rural heartland to the azure shores of the Caribbean.

I've seen wonderful performances, from a tiny boat floating in the ocean during a lightning storm, to a traffic island in the middle of a busy street, and even in a library.

Now, I could probably sit back and lounge by the beach, but that wouldn't be me.

There's too much more great music to discover here in Colombia.

[ All singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪