Passport Series: Yeison Landero

The Passport Series brings Music Haven to Proctors Collaborative, “traveling the world one concert at a time.”

The Passport Series takes the same beloved world music that patrons of the Music Haven park series have come to cherish and brings it to Proctors in Schenectady and Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga so the party can continue all year. 

Yeison Landero was born in San Jacinto (Bolívar); that is to say, in the very heart of the mountains of María of our Colombian Caribbean. He carries in his soul a cumbiambero heart inherited from his grandfather Andrés Landero: a musician recognized as the king of cumbia nationally and internationally.

Not only did he inherited his grandfather’s love for cumbia and the accordion, but also the talent to interpret melodies. At the age of seven, Yeison Landero became the most appreciated disciple of his grandfather Andrés learning all the emotions and humility behind the montemariano musician. He grew up in an environment surrounded by music, dances, and serenades. In his early years, his home was visited by great musicians who entertained at parties with their incomparable talents. Artists of the stature of Alfredo Gutiérrez, Lizandro Meza, Calixto Ochoa, Enríquez Díaz, the composer and singer Adolfo Pacheco Anillo, the legendary pipers of San Jacinto, Abel Antonio Villa, and an innumerable bunch of sabanero folklore figures with whom Yeison Landero nurtured his traditional style.

His first group was created by Andrés Landero himself. Presented next to the king of cumbia, Yeison Landero and his sister were introduced as “Los nietos de Andrés Landero,” performing cumbia at festivals, patriotic celebrations, concerts, regional fairs, and toured nationally. Yeison Landero later went on to study music at Bellas Artes, and concluded his law degree at the University of Cartagena. But his love for his ancestral accordion and his passion for cumbia were so great that he decided to turn them into the motor of his life, captivating the hearts of all cumbiamberos. He then decided to release his first album called Landero Vive, as a posthumous tribute to his grandfather’s immortal legacy.