Cumbia pegassera

Cumbia pegassera is a very popular and distinctive style of cumbia, the Colombian and Panamanian music genre popular throughout Latin America.

Description

According to Federico Estevan, he created the style with the help of Juan Antonio Espinoza, Hector Olavarrieta, Daniel Olavarrieta, Félix Iñiguez, Jorge Puig and Jose Santos Rodriguez Moreno, all original members of his band, Grupo Pegasso.

Other phrases used to describe this style are onda pegassera, sonido pegasso, and musica pegassera. This style of cumbia has roots with the great Rigo Tovar who introduced acoustic instruments into his band. Although this cumbia style reached the height of its popularity in the 80s and early 90s in Mexico and the US, it is still popular in the northern Mexican states of Nuevo León, Coahuila and Tamaulipas.

Origins

The band's name connoted the phrase "onda pegassera" and the like. Due to its popularity, other bands adopted a very similar style. Among them were Corcel Negro, Cupido, Toppaz and Zaaz.

One of the basic innovations that shaped this style was the introduction of the Hammond organ, specifically the Hammond B200, which gave a richer sound and allowed prolonged reverb and vibrato.