Wilson y Los Más Elegantes is a multidisciplinary project that the Belgian artist Hans Bryssinck developed over the past years in Colombia. Through the process of learning to sing traditional Colombian music he configures a series of new works ranging from performance, to music, to film.
He uses performative strategies to play with Colombian language and gestures and makes them his own, resulting in a clumsy but sincere intercultural dialogue. From the position of the intruder in another culture the artist investigates the edges of identity, in this particular case of colombianity. Instead of affirming and consolidating a specific identity, he plays with ambiguity and with doubt.
The Film
Bambuco is a Colombian musical genre that could be considered a national symbol and still evokes some kind of patriotic feeling. In Wilson y Los Más Elegantes we witness the birth of a new musical trio, which interprets traditional Colombian songs at family gatherings. The trio is composed of two native guitar players and a foreign singer who does everything possible, and more, to become a local. We follow the main character throughout his complex subjective experience and through the eyes of his bystanders.
Wilson y Los Más Elegantes won the audience award at the Theater Film Fest of Düsseldorf.
The Band
In the summer of 2013 during a radio appearance at Univalle Estereo in Cali Hans Bryssinck launched the band Wilson y Los Más Elegantes. They've performed mainly at private parties, but also passed through music venues, a bar, an exhibition, a film festival.
The band exclusively performs in Colombia but is present on facebook.
The Album
The first album of Wilson y Los Más Elegantes is made for people who want to connect with the Colombian classics. It brings a fine selection of bambucos, cumbias and a vals, featuring Wilson as a singing Colombian anomaly with his irresistible and inimitable accent. The original Spanish lyrics reveal an immediate glorification and a desire for the native land of Colombia.
"El Regreso is the song that I relate to the most," says Wilson; "because it testifies of the intense but also ambivalent sensations that come with returning to your native land."
The entire album was recorded at the Acuarela Studios in the city of Cali, the legendary musical capital of Colombia. The local caleño designer and illustrator CaliDoso created the artwork that evokes the idiosyncratic nature of Wilson y Los Más Elegantes
A-side
El Regreso . bambuco 4'20"
Letra y Música: Efraín Orozco
Soy Colombiano . bambuco 3'32"
Letra y Música: Rafael Godoy
Colombia Tierra Querida . cumbia 2'58"
Letra y Música: Lucho Bermúdez
A Unos Ojos . vals 4'01"
Letra: Hernan Videla Flores Música: Carlos Montbrun Ocampo
Yo Me Llamo Cumbia . cumbia 3'29"
Letra y Música: Mario Gareña
B-side
The B-side carries the instrumental versions, for learning to sing along at home and to give you a first hand experience of this traditional music.
Available at concerts, screenings, and from SPIN
