Cumbia Sabanera is one of many foundational music traditions that have been born in the tucked away Montes de Maria region of Colombia’s Caribbean enclave. At the front of this particular sabanera style sits el acordeón, a magical squeezebox of seductive melodies that, combined with the quintessential elements of the cumbia rhythm section, has begat a worldwide phenomenon several times over. Each generation seems to bring forth another cumbia craze that echoes from the savanna out into the Caribbean Sea, oscillating beyond into the international landscape. One of the true maestros, at the very heart of this original movement, is the bonafide and widely recognized El Rey de la Cumbia, Andrés Landero.
Put simply, Andrés Landero is a legendary practitioner of the esteemed instrument, with a school of followers and admirers who played and studied with him from the 1950s until his passing in 2000. His performances, discography and compositions are beyond reproach, and accordionists the world over have taken up this same enchanting Hohner instrument to carry on Landero’s craft through his well-formed cumbia sub-culture. As the wider cumbia movement has shapeshifted throughout its time in different countries, across decades with the aid of modern innovations, there remains a devoted tradition to the roots of the accordion-based sound and cumbia sabanera in its most sincere and organic form.
Even at the height of international popularity, with talent emerging from all corners of the world’s musical meridians, there is no heir more appropriate to carry on the legacy of Andrés Landero than his very own grandson. Literally born in the cradle of cumbia sabanera in San Jacinto, Colombia, Yeison Landero began studying accordion as a child under the tutelage of his fabled grandfather. As an adult, Yeison has blossomed into a masterful accordionist and cultural ambassador with a deep commitment to the preservation and education of this uniquely Colombian inheritance. Not only has Yeison spearheaded the International Cumbia Fest in San Jacinto, as well as his own Fundación Landero Vive (Landero Lives Foundation), he has performed with his powerful and talented band on many prestigious international stages throughout Latin America, the States, and Europe.
We modestly suggest that perhaps one missing piece of Yeison’s impressive curriculum vitae was a record release with Names You Can Trust, champions of traditional Colombian recordings and their modern offshoots for almost twenty years from their home base in Brooklyn. NYCT set about correcting this when a serendipitous break in Yeison’s US tour in 2025 turned into the perfect recording opportunity in upstate New York.
As temperatures hovered as hot as a Caribbean savanna, an East Coast summer session with Yeison’s touring conjunto summoned all the spirits and sabor that reside at the heart of this tropical art form. With tío Javier Guerra Alvis (one of Andrés Landero’s sons) providing the steady rhythm of the guacharaca, and the rest of the band’s talented players in full tour-seasoned form, the group channeled one of Andrés’s most revered, deep cuts in “Santa Lucia” as well as an original composition from Yeison himself, the appropriately-titled “Cumbia Sin Fronteras.”
These two selections encapsulate the movement of the current cumbia nexus, from an ode to the Colombian countryside traditions in “Santa Lucia” to the international ascent of cumbia’s modern path in “Cumbia Sin Fronteras” (Cumbia Without Borders). Sonically, these two tracks reach for a harmonious balance between raw, traditional, and truly unique, and their finished form on the preferred 7-inch format means they’re destined to reach the hands of selectors and sonideros worldwide, just as the elder Landero’s records did across decades and generations. El heredero de la cumbia (the heir to cumbia) is in a good place, Landero vive!