Album Notes

BARANDUA is the name of a romantic Ecuadorian beach. It is also the name of an award winning Latin American Folk, pop and Flamenco band. The songs and poems of Barandua's repertoire reflect the feelings and thoughts of a new Latin America, of countries and communities on the road to social change. Barandua performs songs that portray the complexities of these communities by combining the traditional rhythms and sounds with new innovations. Characterized by a startling diversity, the sounds of guitars, the bass, the charango, the zampona, and various other instruments forge a distinctive sound. The musicians also reflect this diversity, coming from a variety of Latin American countries, backgrounds, and professions. Barandua has been featured on numerous Houston television and radio stations, was named Best Latin Folk Band at the Latin American Festival, and was recently featured in European Television's ARTE channel for its innovative and diverse Latin music.

MARIA FRANCISCA GONZALEZ RIMBAU

Maria Francisca or "nena" from Spain, plays the guitar, charango, cuatro, quena, and accordion. She is the group's lead musician and singer. She along with her brother Carlos founded the first "Barandua" group in Ecuador 15 years ago before she immigrated to the United States in 1990. Music runs through her veins. Her father, the late Carlos Arijita was a well known Spanish composer and her mother, Maria Rimbau, considered one of the top five sopranos in the world in the 1950's. "Nena" is the group's director and as a true artist, she has a unique ability to choose music from all over Latin America and the world. Maria Francisca is a published genetics research scientist at Baylor College of Medicine, contributing to find a cure for breast cancer, with several scientific publications to her name.

CARLOS GONZALEZ RIMBAU

Carlos from Spain, is the group's lead composer and singer. He plays second guitar and bass. He is also in charge with his sister of Barandua's musical arrangements. He founded the first Barandua group in Ecuador with his sister in the early 80's. Carlos not only has degrees in television production, he is also a lisenced pilot and served in his country's Navy for several years. Presently, Carlos is an award winning freelance director/videographer, producer and editor. He also directed and produced the first bilingual miniseries ever shown in Houston, "El Vicio de Vivir" in 1996 and is the proud father of four children and one grandchild.

PATRICIA GRAS

Patricia, born in Houston and raised in Argentina is the group's lead percussionist and singer. She began to sing Argentinian folk songs at age twelve and has since taken voice lessons with local opera singers and recently Debbie Beinhorn. Patricia is truly cosmopolitan. Her grandpartents were from Lebanon and Spain and she has lived in over 7 countries. She speaks 5 lanaguages and enjoys international travel. She holds a Master's degree in international business from the American Graduate School of International Management and in journalism from Columbia University in New York city. Patricia is an Emmy award winning producer and reporter for KUHT Ch. 8, Houston Public Television with over 40 international, national and local broadcasting awards to her credit.

LUIS MONTES DE OCA

Luis from Mexico city is the group's lead zampona player and percussionist. He joined Barandua five years ago and for over a decade has been playing the sweet pan flute or zampona. Luis has been able to play international tunes hardly ever heard on the pan flutes. He comes from a family of well known musicians in Mexico. Luis currently works as an arquitect.

CARLOS GONZALEZ BLUM (guest artist). Carlos lives in Austin, goes to college and works as a bycicle cop. He is also a superv and gifted musician. He plays the bass and flamenco guitar. He composes flamenco music and Palito gitano is his latest song release.