Today’s topic: “The Queen of Tourism” (Today’s meta-topic: the fervor of the converted.)

Polibio Mayorga, the Ecuadorian genius who was my gateway drug into cumbia, also covers this song. The oldest version I have is from Venezuelan organist-superstar Tulio Enrique Leon “El Artista del Teclado” – who Sonido Martines first wrote up here. Below, Chucho Ponce of Los Daddys comes with a sweet synthed-up version called ‘The Queen of Tourism’. Mayorga goes in hard for the organs, forming a direct lineage with Leon’s “La Cumbia de los Monjes” (which has nothing to do with “La Cumbia de los Monjes” by Los Deakino, although we’ll get to that one during Week 14: Bells).

Los Daddys – La Reyna de Turismo

“La Cumbia de los Monjes/La Reyna [sic] de Turismo” is an example of a song – like “El Llanto de la Tortuga” – whose construction lends itself to interesting synthesizer work. En “El Llanto” for example, the horn arrangments do lots of octave leaps (also common in grime/dubstep production). In other songs the melody will be passed around on various instruments. In cumbia sonidera, these elements often translate into great synth patch weirdness.

It’s a beautiful quality – this ability of songs recorded in the 1960s, say, to inspire studio experimentation forty years on; they contain within their DNA the urge to f%ck up form.

Chucho’s “La Reyna de Turismo” is fairly restrained (the pleasures of version culture are many, restraint among them), and the bassline suggests reggae…

You’ll hear shoutouts for Chinantla, Puebla” in all of Ponce’s riddims. I was in Puebla last month and asked about Chinantla. Nobody had heard of it. “It must be a tiny village” they said.

And here is Tulio Enrique Leon’s take on things:

Tulio Enrique Leon – La Cumbia de Los Monjes