Cimarrón performed July 2nd at the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The crowd-drawing performance culminated the first half of the Festival's 10-day program "Colombia: The Nature of Culture," and marked the group's third Festival appearance. Watch their performance of "Joropo Quitapesares," the first track from the new Smithsonian Folkways release ¡Cimarrón! Joropo Music from the Plains of Colombia.

¡Cimarrón! Joropo Music from the Plains of Colombia is available on CD and digital.

Percussive strings and maracas, dynamic vocal expression, and full-throttle pace earned the joropo of the Orinoco plains of Colombia and Venezuela its place among the most exciting regional musics of Latin America. On this, its second Smithsonian Folkways album, the GRAMMY-nominated and internationally acclaimed Colombian ensemble Cimarrón distills this excitement into a tightly arranged, even more explosive rendition of their tropical tradition. Through their powerful, moody, and unbridled sound, they live up to the meaning of their name Cimarrón—“wild bull.” This album is part of the Smithsonian Folkways Tradiciones/Traditions series of Latino music albums, produced with support by the Smithsonian Latino Center.