Words: George Gray, Images: Press Shots
There’s no celebration of Latin music and culture quite like La Linea in the UK. The festival that’s filled concert halls and hearts across the capital since the Millenium is approaching its 25th anniversary with more anticipation than ever. We sat down with new festival director Elena Beltrami and founder Andy Wood to get the low down before it all kicks off on the 26th April.
Andy’s love for Latin has been a lifelong interest. Starting in the punk world he learnt about Joe Strummer’s interest in Latin American struggles and found himself on a trajectory soon toward Funk. A shorter hop from that to Salsa and Latin percussion drive and before he knew it, it was his life, working with the Nicaragua Solidarity campaigns and Seu Jorge in his earliest days.
Elena too has had a life-long love wanting to explore down as many musical rabbit holes as possible, the constant reinvention of artists keeping her interest fresh. Together the pair have been on a mission to make Latin music more accessible in the UK and London.
In typical Como No! fashion the promoters have once again brought together some of the most exciting artists from the global Latin community. With shows across iconic venues such as Islington Assembly Hall, The Jazz Cafe and more, there are plenty of opportunities to catch seasoned veterans as well as London debutants.
For newly appointed Elena, curating this line-up comes down to artists’ “live presence” and their ability to connect with the community in the audience. “The line-up is very inclusive, we aim to offer opportunities for both artists and audiences to experience something new”, and with a range of Latin legends from Eliades Ochoa to the groundbreaking Villano Antillano, they’ve pulled off something special.
It’s Andy’s first year taking a step back from putting things together, but that hasn’t diluted his enthusiasm in the slightest, memories of the Como No! origins still fresh in his mind. From a 1994 Ochoa set in the presence of Juan de Marcos and Nick Gold, that may have led to Ochoa’s inclusion in Buena Vista Social Club, to La Linea’s first edition featuring two Latin Hip-Hop groups from LA and Havana.
A quarter of a century later and Latin music is now one of the most streamed genres in the world, Andy points out. “Every year is different, it’s all part of that dynamism of the ever-changing Latin scene in London” he tells us, but to Andy what makes it unique is “the sense of root and tradition” that contemporary Latin music holds. Andy explains, for that reason La Linea will always play that balance of new and old. A “critical mass” of love for the genre with community firmly at its heart.
This goes back to the beginning for the pair, “now everyone’s connected online, but when things started the way to discover new music was in person”, Andy points out. They still try to stay updated with the modern online sources but also keep the early traditions alive, putting boots on the ground and getting out in the community itself.
Showcase events, live performances, music fairs and conversations, their most powerful tools in putting together the perfect line-up. “You must have been to Latin America half a dozen times at least in the last year” Andy jokes to Elena.
However, back at the start before La Linea’s legacy had been established, the social environment was different. “I’d been promoting Latin music in London for more than 10 years before the first La Linea”, working with names like the godmother of Salsa, Celia Cruz, Andy tells us.
Latin music’s roots in London may have gone back to the 40s with Cuban Bands lighting up London’s dance halls but for a fair time afterwards “It wasn’t so easy to introduce people to new music” Andy admits.
The ever-evolving demographics of Latin communities in London, have “always catalysed a response in our work” they share. Whether its geo-political shifts translating into musical works of protest or the booming of contemporary styles, over time this cross-fertilisation of influences has created a historical line. A line that became a fountain of inspiration for the project’s core.
La Linea soon came into the picture. A “conscious decision” to create a project where audiences would have to put their trust built from bigger Como No! shows into a choice of smaller artists. Ever since, that importance of trust has been cultivated. It may have been through relentless leafleting back in the early days but now much like their line-up the organiser pair take the new with the old sharing info online too.
The pair are acutely aware of the drawbacks of the modern music world too, acknowledging many careers have been cut short due to streaming platforms, rising production and touring costs all slashing artists’ income. Andy believes this is why it’s so important to promote a genre as rich and layered as Latin that thrives off “the primacy of the live experience” through the festival.
He credits “the sense of community, flux and evolution” of the London Scene as the catalyst for the festival’s continued growth. “It’s a double edged sword” explaining how the city’s darker colonial past and now huge transport links have led to a thriving melting pot of culture.
As a result Andy believes that it’s created the perfect environment for “completely different sounds to merge just by looking at what’s rhythmically possible”. An environment where pushing boundaries is the norm, staying open-minded with an insatiable appetite for consuming culture and music, “London is one of the best audiences in the world”.
The way that Latin music is developing aids that too, Elena explains. “It’s all about feeding into that buzz, proposing new artists with styles not stereotypical to Latin origins”. “There’s a world of amazing artists and producers that create different Latin styles and we’d love to showcase them”, she hammers home. You can see why with London debuts for both Ana Lua Caiano and Juana Aguirre.
Elena notes that this year’s inclusion of New Regency Orchestra is a “great sign of young people getting involved whether they have Latin roots or not”. For her it symbolises a new generation drawn to the genre sonically, connecting across age and demographic borders, “Como No! will always try and nurture this growth, building up collaborations with others”.
In the future, the pair would love to keep booking the artists that bring the audience flocking in, but their larger goals are more community driven. Having recently become a non for profit they’ve got lots of initiatives in the pipeline, from workshops to artist call outs for homegrown Latin talent in the UK. “The fact that there is a new direction after a huge base of 25 years is so exciting” Andy credits Elena, “there’s a lot of space to grow and take more risks” she adds, and with that in mind we can’t wait to see things get started.
Stay tuned for more La Linea content on the way!
