Stringing it together

THURSDAY, APRIL 23 — Edmar Castaneda can turn his harp into a trellis of flowers or a barge full of fireworks. Forest waterfalls and urban skylines shimmer from its vibrating lines. The Colombia-born harpist throws folk, Latin and jazz rhythms and melodies into a gorgeous mlange that is completely his own invention.

Castaneda is an extraordinary front man for an unusual trio — with Marshall Gilkes on trombone and Dave Sillman on drums — coming to MSU's Cook Recital Hall Saturday.

The performance is one of several fascinating events coming up in the MSU College of Music's month-long Latin Is America festival.

Castaneda, a native of Bogot, Colombia, came to New York at age 16. When he was 7 years old, his mother took him to a dance class with a band that featured the harp, a mainstay of Colombian folk music.

The Colombian harp, or arpa llanera, is a five-octave acoustic instrument, made of wood, with a gentle, resonant sound similar to that of an acoustic guitar. It's capable of generating earthy uproars and ethereal transparency at once.

“I felt I was born to play it,” Castaneda said.

The harp family spans the globe, like a clan of musical demi-gods.

“Colombia and Venezuela share the same harp, but Mexico uses a different kind,” Castaneda said. “Celtic harps and the harps used in symphony orchestra are different, too.”

Castaneda has modified his own harp to suit his unorthodox playing style.

"The way I play it is different from the tradition," he said. "I find a way to play bass lines with my left hand, like a bass player, and my right hand playing melodies and harmonies. It sounds like two or three players at the same time."

He is not exaggerating.

When Castaneda came to New York at age 16, the first jazz tune he heard was Duke Ellington’s “Take the ‘A’ Train.”

“I thought, ‘Wow, what is this?’” he recalled.

He studied jazz trumpet in high school and college, “just to learn the language of jazz,” but his plan all along was to bring it all back to his beloved harp.

“In traditional music, you improvise a lot, so there is a good connection between the two,” he said. “The trumpet was a bridge to play what I play today.”

While studying at college, Castaneda worked solo in restaurants, often seven days a week.

“I was happy to have the chance,” he said. “Restaurants were my school for harp while I was in college. It was good. Playing alone forced me to create this way of playing.”

He started going to salsa and jazz jam sessions around New York, sitting in with the band when invited. As word of mouth spread about his astonishing musicianship, he got invited more and more.

Finally, he came to the attention of one of Latin music's towering figures, reedman-composer-bandleader Paquito D’Rivera.

“He became like a godfather to me,” Castaneda said.

Castaneda kept running into his present trio mates, Gilkes and Sillman, at various New York gigs. They gradually jelled into a group.

“Trombone balances the high register of the harp, and Marshall is amazing on it,” Castaneda said.

The trio is getting plenty of gigs, but Castaneda has more ambitious plans. He’s working on a major piece for symphony orchestra and harp.

“In this world of classical, they haven't seen the harp like that,” he said. “It’s good to open that window.”

By mid-year, he’ll be finished with a jazz/worldbeat album featuring an eight-piece ensemble from Turkey, Brazil, Switzerland, Colombia and the United States.

Castaneda's path unfolded without much of a plan. He called his musical life “a gift from God.” When trumpeter Wynton Marsalis asked Castenada how he came up with his unique style, the harpist just shrugged.

“I told him I didn’t know,” he said. “It just came little by little, from playing every day and being inspired by life in New York. I never thought, ‘I'm going to invent this.’ It just came along and it keeps on coming.”

Edmar Castaneda Trio

8 p.m. Saturday, April 25

$10/$8 seniors/students FREE

Cook Recital Hall, MSU

333 W. Circle Drive, East Lansing

(517) 353-5340, music.msu.edu