Oscar Reynolds & Karumanta Bio

Oscar Reynolds (Bolivia) 
antara, zampoñas, quena, quenacho, guitar, compositions, arrangements, musical direction

Raul Ramirez (Perú) 
percussion  

David Pinto (Perú)
bass


“With haunting panpipes, intricate rhythmic patterns and dramatic chords, the music of Karumanta merges ancient styles and instruments to create a startingly fresh sound." - San Jose Mercury News   

With a music career spanning four decades, Bolivian-born Oscar Reynolds leads the critically-acclaimed San Francisco ensemble Karumanta, described by the East Bay Express as "the current favorite of fans in a field already overrun with excellent musicians, representing the purest traditional sound." Formed in 1991, the ensemble’s repertoire and top-notch performance is an eclectic combination of traditional Bolivian rhythms and melodies from the Quechua and Aymara Indians, Afro-Bolivians, criollos, and other Bolivian regions to Bolivian music uniting with other cultures and genres like flamenco, Afro-Peruvian music, and jazz.

With past performances throughout South America, Europe, and the United States and various sold-out shows in up to 2,000 seat venues, Karumanta actively participates in helping communities by donating portions of their concert proceeds to benefit non-profit organizations and charities. Their music has been featured in the movie Follow Me Home, NPR’s Morning Edition, and KGO radio’s program The Best Music You’ve Never Heard, among over 850 NPR and PRI stations and syndicated programs across the United States and abroad. Karumanta has given live music performances on Telemundo, Univision, KRON 4’s Latin Eyes, ABC News10, UPN 31, and NBC, among many others.

Karumanta's master musicians have rich and diverse accomplishments in their traditional fields. Oscar is an accomplished Bolivian pan flute master and composer recognized for his unparalleled coordination and dexterity in playing the bamboo flutes and guitar simultaneously. Frank Zeccola of the San Francisco Observer says, “Any flute player would marvel at the tight control over each note Reynolds displays while packing a stream of emotions into his complex scale runs, but to see him do that and play the guitar is quite impressive.” Along with Peruvian drummer Lalo Izquierdo, his latest musical work is being funded by the Creative Work Fund grant for traditional arts.  

Peruvian master drummer Raul Ramirez's versatile percussive drumming weaves jazz, fusion, Latin jazz, South American styles and world beats. Peruvian native David Pinto completes the sound with six-string bass, blending melodic passages with jazz. Best-known for his work as music director, arranger, and bassist of Afro-Peruvian song diva and Grammy-winner Susana Baca, David is one of the most versatile bass players in the world.

“Thus, in Oscar’s music you have diverse cultural traditions joining together based on time period, means, and circumstance. History, tradition, and geography are just as important as scales and beats, sharps and flats. The blending of traditions and cultures as the music crossed borders, migrated and evolved over the course of history, over empires falling and rising and countries gaining and losing dominance and power; this is the experience Oscar Reynolds brings to his music.” – San Francisco Observer