Tamsaianka - La Pirámide de la Laguna (2019)

Tamsaianka is the duo of Carlos Gómez Montoya and León Ochoa, two Colombian musicians and music therapists practicing a blend of contemporary and ancestral sounds. The initial spark for the project began in 2003 when Montoya visited the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region to live with and learn from the Wiwa, an indigenous people who live amidst the mountain’s splendor, largely uncontacted by outside cultures. The shared knowledge, sounds and experiences led to Montoya’s dreaming of a music that combines traditional instrumentation with contemporary sounds. In 2007, the dream was cemented during a similar cultural exchange with the traditional players in Ráquira, Boyacá, Colombia. Joined by Ochoa on piano, melodica and metallophone, Montoya employs a series of indigenous flutes from across the Central American country, as well as transverse flute and saxophone. The result is a transfixing blend that softens the spirit and opens the mind to the many possibilities, past, present and future.