GuacaMusic: Costa Rica

posted in: Features • Latin

When it comes to Latin music, we tend to hear a lot from artists in countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba and Brazil. After all, who isn’t familiar with samba, salsa, merengue, cumbia or mariachi? But what about those Latin countries that have a lot to offer but are often misrepresented in the Latin music scene?

Take Costa Rica, for example, a country that is famous for its hospitality and peacefulness, but not so much for its music. This is unfortunate, as the Costa Rican territory has a lot to offer.

From classical to folk, jazz and calypso, music is everywhere in Costa Rica. Like many Latin American countries, Costa Rican music has a lot of Afro-Caribbean influence. The Calypso, for example, originated as a mean for slaves to communicate and tell stories.

Want to know more about the music of this amazing country?

Here on OurStage, we are proud to have an outstanding artist who really puts Costa Rica high up on our list of favorites. I am talking about Manuel Monestel, a singer-songwriter with more than 30 years of experience in the music business, and a star that National Geographic calls an instrumental piece in the revival of Calypso music.

Monestel has lead several bands in Costa Rica and has composed and recorded over a hundred songs, earning rave reviews from both critics and fans. His song Miedo was among the Top 40 on the OurStage Latin Channel in December of 2010, and his catchy piece Still Turning Around was among the Top 10 on the OurStage World Channel in September of the same year.

Manuel was born in San Pedro, Costa Rica and began playing the guitar at the age of sixteen. A lot has happened since then. Monestel is now one of the founders of the Nueva Canción movement in Costa Rica, and has traveled the world sharing the stage with Silvio Rodriguez, Mercedes Sosa and Pablo Milanés among others.

Perhaps the most interesting fact about Manuel is that he sees himself not only as an artist, but also as an academic and cultural leader.  He studied sociology and arts at the University of Costa Rica as well as popular culture and ethnomusicology at the State University of Bahia in Brazil. Since then, he has written over twenty five articles about topics related to music and has worked as a professor and head of cultural departments and projects for several institutions such as The University for Peace, the National Counsel of University Principals, the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and Cornell University.

So what are you waiting for, visit Manuel’s profile on OurStage and start discovering how great Costa Rican music can be. Pura Vida. ¡Provecho!