A magnificent singer and dancer, Totó La Momposina has earned respect and admiration in many parts of the world for the power and spontaneity of her performance. Drawing on the music and dance of the Colombian Caribbean, her work is informed and inspired by a rich cultural mix that combines elements from African, Native Indian and Spanish traditions. This an expression of a culture that has its origins in Africa (via the slaves brought to work in the Americas), Spain (through the influence of the invading colonists) and South America (from the indigenous Indian population).

On stage Totó’s dynamic repertoire is accompanied by a range of traditional drums, gaitas, brass, tiple, bass, guitar, percussion and chorus. She presents rhythms such as the cumbia, bullerenge, chalupa, garabato and mapale from Colombia’s Caribbean coast alongside the Cuban son, guaracha, rumba and bolero son that arrived in Colombia via the village of San Basilio de Palenque.

Totó hails - as did her ancestors - from the village of Talaigua, at the heart of an island in the great Magdalena river, called Mompos (hence ‘la Momposina’). The river, which rises high in the Andes, stretches over a thousand miles to the Caribbean. In the sixteenth century Spanish invasions forced the Indians - the original inhabitants of Mompos - to flee into the island’s dense forests. In later years, runaway slaves intermarried with them. ‘The music I play’, explains Totó, ‘has its roots in a mixed race; being African and Indian, the heart of the music is completely percussive.’ The cumbia is one of the better known rhythms and dances of Colombia. This rhythm is powerfully hypnotic and, along with the dance and its costume, a fine example of the mixture of Indian, Spanish and African influences: The dance originated as a courting dance between African men and Indian women at the time when the two communities began to intermarry. In this gentle, sensual dance the women hold up lit candles as the pairs weave in and out.

Born into a family of musicians spanning five generations, Totó learned to sing and dance as a child. Her father was a drummer, her mother a singerand dancer; their household lived with the musical traditions of ‘la costa’. As a young woman, she travelled from village to village researching their various rhythms and dances and studying the art of the cantadora. Traditionally the cantadoras are peasants, women who grow yucca, plantain and pumpkins in the patches of land behind their huts. These women play a central role in the village culture. In Talaigua Ramona Ruiz, a fine cantadora now in her eighties who tutored the teenage Toto, continues to keep this tradition alive. In this community of peasant farmers and fishermen Ramona dispenses everything from marital advice to herbal medicine and as a vivacious and inspired chande (fiesta and also a rhthym of Talaigua) leader, is able to rustle up a full compliment of drummers, singers and dancers at a moment’s notice. The songs that the villagers sing to accompany their daily tasks are performed by Totó on stage, such as rhythmic chants to pace the pounding of the corn, and suggestive lyrics which add spice to the monotony of scrubbing the clothes in the river. The drums are played by the men, boat-builders who hollow out tree trunks with their axes, fishermen, net-menders and cigar-makers.
Gradually, Totó’s voice and performance technique matured, until in 1968 she formed her own group and began to pursue a professional career, though still delighting in playing at family fiestas, street parties and other roles enacted by ‘la cantadora del pueblo’. Rapidly gaining a reputation for her impressive voice and presence she began to appear outside Colombia in the 1970s touring in Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe and the United States. In 1982 she accompanied Gabriel Garcia Marquez to Stockholm to perform at his Nobel prize ceremony.

Totó based herself in France for four years, studying the history of dance for a year at the Sorbonne and performing extensively in Europe, though most frequently in France and Germany. She recorded her first album during this period in Paris, ‘Totó La Momposina’ for Auvidisc and contributed to the Colombian compilation ‘La Ceiba’ for ASPIC. In 1987 she returned to Colombia and continued to perform both at home and further afield in Latin America and the Caribbean. She also spent time in Cuba where she studied the bolero. In 1991 WOMAD brought her back to Europe and she performed at their festivals in Japan, Canada, England, Germany, Spain and Finland. She recorded ‘La Candela Viva’ in 1992 for Real World Records and ‘Carmelina’ for MTM in 1995, followed by ‘Pacanto’ in 1998. Over the last decade she has also performed in Spain, England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Holland, Belgium, Slovenia, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Korea, USA, Mexico, Cuba and on seven other Caribbean islands.

In 2000 Totó’s new album ‘Pacanto’ was released in Europe by Nuevos Medios and hailed as a new milestone in Colombian music:, with Mojo calling it "One of the year’s finest latin albums." In 2006 she was the winner of the 2006 WOMEX Award.

Totó la Momposina's artistic career, indeed her entire life, has been dedicated to representing the music of her roots, while never shrinking from finding innovative ways of bringing it forward into the modern age. Through teaching, through composition, dance and performance, Totó's artistry manifests the fertile meeting ground of richly varied Colombian cultures - the African, the indigenous Indian and the Spanish. And in her, that music has found not only a treasured champion, but its greatest interpreter.

Her new show, Totó la Momposina y su familia, is a continuation of this journey in which, with her children and grandchildren, she presents the exciting spectacle of three generations performing together.

"Totó’s most successful outing so far. A triumph." Songlines

"Her latest album sees her breaking out of the ghetto, proving herself to be a true soul singer in the purest sense of the world." Time Out

"An explosive and energetic fifteen-track tour.....virtually every track should have you moving your butt." 100 Essential CDs, The Rough Guide

"Wherever she sings people recognise in Totó’s voice a unique quality, one far removed from the highly produced output of more commercial latin bands, a rawness that alludes to the rural tradition which lies at the core of Colombia."
Patricia Diaz, Film Director

"Totó, in herself, is so strong spiritually and mentally. She gives you tremendous vibes of affection and love. Then you see a chemistry between the musicians; there is an intimacy that goes on in their eyes. Somehow something happens, seemingly unrehearsed, where a smile, a genuine smile, comes out of one of them and then the next, and a pattern develops. I suspect there is great depth in what they are communicating."
Phil Ramone, Record Producer

"If Totó la Momposina hadn’t specialised in local styles she could surely be a mainstream star, for she’s a majestic, powerful and versatile singer. As it is she uses her talents to demonstrate what at first seems a curious hybrid. Massed ranks of drummers set up a pounding rhythm, she then cuts right across it with sturdy spanish influenced ballads and dance songs."
Robin Denslow, The Guardian

"Colombian singer Totó la Momposina stands out as one of the most intriguing artists recording for Peter Gabriel’s Real World label...she belts, the drums pump, the Indian flautas wail in nonchromatic ecstacy." Daisann Mclane, Rolling Stone

"We spent weeks researching and filming around the Caribbean coast of Colombia - the villages and towns where bananas grow and the ‘magical real’ world of ‘One hundred years of solitude’ was born. At this time I first heard the name Totó la Momposina. She had been invited and had gone with Gabriel Garcia Marquez to Stockholm to perform when he accepted his prize. Shunning the usual black tie evening wear he appeared in a white guayavera from the coast and released thousands of yellow butterflies while Totó delivered some pearls of rural Colombian wisdom. I don’t know what they thought in Norway, but she went down very well in Vauxhall where I first saw her perform in a club last year. From music and show it turned into a kind of ritualistic dance exchange which left the audience breathless and more or less dazed."
Ben Woolford, Film Producer

"The phenomenal voice of Totó and the thunder of her band is awe-inspiring. This is living, breathing power music."
CMJ New World Music

"Her voice can, and does, stand up with the best ... the deep roots sound reaches out and grabs you, the call and response vocals and chorus float over the pulsing drumming. Especially on ‘El Pescador’ where the lovely melody line of this old song about fishermen keeps hanging around in your head. It is a fantastic track that causes mayhem on the dancefloor when it tops off a row of cumbias."
Straight No Chaser

"Totó is a type found throughout Latin America and Africa. She’s a vivacious musical matriarch, a local legend, with a roots sound that’s as contemporary as it is timeless. In Cuba they’ve got Celina Gonzalez; Colombia boasts the Momposina Queen. Feverishly percussive at times, lush and atmouspheric at others, the band’s motley array of instruments is the foil to a charismatic voice."
Rick Glanvill, Vox

"Totó has the purest voice of all."
Tunku Varadarajan, The Times

"...tub-thumpingly brilliant..."
Time Out

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