Takillacta

by Adam Greenberg
Takillacta is one of the success stories to come out of the New York musician collectives. In the mid-'80s, various musicians around New York moved in a number of smaller circles performing in small venues, jam sessions, and street performances. Eventually, a number of the musicians from various Andean cultural groups met up with an Argentinean or two (including lead producer Lionel Sanders), and a Japanese bass player (Hideiji Taninaka), forming Takillacta (Quechua for "song of the people"). The focus of the music is largely on folk songs of the regions from where the artists hail from: Andean folk songs and pan pipe works, Argentinean gaucho songs, Ecuadorian ideas, touches of the Tateyama Mountains of Japan, and a healthy dosage of innovation and fusion unique to New York. Late 2002 saw the release of Andean Songs on the world music division of Naxos records.