Bajando por la Montaña: Ecology of Colombian Gaita Music

Gaita is played with two flutes and three percussions in a group. The music combines both indigenous Native American and traditional African elements. The filmmakers follow Latin Grammy-award-wining gaitero Fredys Arrieta both into the Colombian mountains Montes de Maria and in the metropolis Bogota. The mountains are both where the origin of this music lie and where Fredys sources, in an ecological way, the raw materials for his instrument making. In Bogota, a much younger generation has found an interest in this traditional music from the coastal region of Colombia and has made it “trendy” in the city’s clubs.