Barquisimeto

Two hawks and a tongue twister

Near Carora, two hawks begin an argument. One comes from El Tocuyo, the other from Curarigua; as they answer each other, words stretch into tongue twisters. In “Los dos gavilanes”, Adelis Fréitez brings together characters from two earlier songs: Pío Alvarado’s “Gavilán trabalengua” and Pablo Canela’s “Gavilán tocuyano”.

Fréitez founded Carota, Ñema y Tajá in Barquisimeto in 1981. The group’s name sounds like a meal: black beans, egg yolk and a slice of plantain. Before forming it, he had sung with a harp, cuatro and maracas group and played bass in gaita and salsa ensembles.

The song’s playful dialogue moves through places in Lara state, of which Barquisimeto is the capital. Its meeting of two musical birds ends with their creators joining hands; the elaborate syllables make the journey through the region a challenge for the singer, too.