Anibal, in your home country you're known as "El Mago del Accordeon" ("the magician of the accordion", red.), but that instrument wasn't really all that popular yet in Colombia when you started playing it.
Anibal Velasquez: "I made the accordion popular in Colombia! In those days, people in Colombia mainly listened to vallenato or merengue, genres that at that moment hadn't been commercialised yet. I started playing that music on my accordion and soon afterwards was joined by a follower called Alfredo Gutierrez (Colombian accordionist and singer who managed to win the Vallenato Legend Festival three times and since is known as "the King of Kings", red.) and over the years the accordion has become a standard instrument in vallenato music."
Jose, you were born into a musically inclined family. Are you guys self-taught or did you get some kind of musical education?
Jose Velasquez: "No, not really. We were mainly taught by our elder brother (Juan Velasquez, red.); he played percussion himself and we just started copying what he was doing. I started out as a drummer, but my brother kept pushing me to become a singer. He also taught Anibal to play the accordion. From the age of ten, I started accompanying Anibal; he always says I'm his right hand and I always respond he's my left one. We're only complete when we're together and through the grace of God we're still at each other's side today!"
In all these years haven't you ever been at odds with one another?
Anibal Velasquez: "We'll fight about silly things, but never anything too serious. It's always harmless things. We often lend each other small amounts of money for example and that always leads to trouble! (laughs)"
Was the accordion the first instrument you learned to play?
Anibal Velasquez: "No, I can play lots of instruments. I play the piano, the guitar and I've played the trumpet for a while, but because I got a mouth injury I had to quit. Because I can play that many instruments, I'm sometimes referred to as "El Polifacetico" ("the versatile one", red.), but of course I'm mostly known as the wizard of the accordion, as I developed a different, more rhythmical way to play the instrument. My style is more tropical, more festive and faster than vallenato, passeo or merengue."
Apart from the accordion, percussion is also heavily featured in your music.
Anibal Velasquez: "I've always recorded with that kind of instrumentation. In normal circumstances I also use a tuba player, saxophonist and trumpeter, but this makes for a large orchestra and most concert promoters aren't up for paying that many plane tickets and hotel rooms. (laughs) Most of the time, bands on tour are limited to 8 or 9 members and that's why at the moment I'm making do with only a trumpeter. The electric guitar and bass are also very effective instruments to accompany the accordion; without them you wouldn't feel the "weight" of my music."
The reason you're in the spotlight again now, is due to the release of 'Mambo Loco', a compilation album compiled by the people behind the Analog Africa label. How did that relationship start?
Anibal Velasquez: "My manager Carlos (Estrada, red.) met them during the carnival season in Colombia and it was there also that they saw me perform live for the first time. I guess they must have liked my music, because they spent the entire carnival season with me, following me around wherever I had to do a show."
What can you tell us about your birthplace Barranquilla?
Anibal Velasquez: "What can I tell you about that place? Well, it's a vibrant fun-loving town. The inhabitants are very festive and love music. People often just put their stereo systems on the street and start playing music and partying. Of course, like anywhere else in the world, the city also has its bad elements, but in general the people from Barranquilla are friendly and very hospitable."
Many years ago you fled Barranquilla because it had become the centre of the marihuana trade (Anibal went to live in exile in Caracas, Venezuela for about twenty years, red.). What's the situation like nowadays?
Anibal Velasquez: "That era has long time passed. Mind you, there are still people in Barranquilla who like a draw from a "naughty cigarette", but these days things have become a lot stricter than what they were back in the day."
One of the many producers you worked with in the course of your career was Antonio Fuentes, creator of the Discos Fuentes label (founded in 1934 in Cartagena, Colombia, Discos Fuentes was the first Colombian record label and would go on to play an important role in the popularisation of African-inspired genres like cumbia, fandango and porro, red.).
Anibal Velasquez: "Right, I think we recorded about 4 or 5 albums together. His label was distributed all over Latin America and helped to popularise my music across the continent. The fact people in Mexico still know my songs today, I largely owe to his efforts!"
Of course we can't leave out talking about the so-called "guaracha de Anibal Velasquez".
Anibal Velasquez: "As I already stated earlier, I had made a few adjustments to the already existing vallenato music, but I was also very fond of the Cuban guaracha like the one La Sonora Matancera played. I wished I could play like them, but because they used a lot of horns, I simply couldn't reproduce that sound on my accordion. When my brother was playing a rhythm on his drums one day, though, I took my accordion and started playing over that rhythm at a very high tempo and that's when the "guaracha de Anibal Velasquez" was born! (laughs)"
I don't know if you remember this, but at one stage in your career you recorded a cover version of 'Dominique', originally recorded by the Belgian Soeur Sourire (Jeannine Deckers, red.).
Anibal Velasquez: "Oh yes, that was quite a story! At that time I was mainly recording for Discos Tropical and one day Hilario, an Ecuadorian guy working in the studio, made me listen to this 7 inch record he'd found, telling me: "Anibal listen what a great song! Do you think you can adapt it and do a version of your own?" That's exactly what I did and the song became a huge success; so much so even that today still, almost thirty years after its release, people often request me to play it! The sisters of the Dominican order even paid me a visit at one point. They came to the studio accompanied by a priest and called me to them. They proceeded to embrace me, kissing my hands and thanking me extensively and the priest gave me his blessing. The look of surprise and gratitude in their faces when I handed them a substantial cheque for the copyrights was indescribable! (laughs)"