Composer
& performer
Anamaría Oramas brings together the musical traditions from Colombia’s coasts with the expressive freedom of jazz.
Performing on flute, gaita, and gauta—a hybrid between the transverse flute and the traditional Colombian gaita—, her sound draws both from the celebratory rhythms of the Caribbean and the more introspective rituals of the Pacific.
Anamaría leads a quartet featuring double bass, electric guitar, and drums, whose synergy spans more than 10 years. Their intense, emotional performances expand the legacy of Afro-Colombian popular rhythms while creating a profound sense of collective joy.
Music
Ramas Lejanas (Album)
“Ramas Lejanas,” her second studio album, continues a creative journey through Colombia’s wind-ensemble traditions. The record reflects the festive spirit of bandas pelayeras, the nostalgic songs of the gaita, and the lull-like sway of currulao, all in deep interaction with the improvisational language of jazz.
In the album, melodies from the flute and the gauta evoke wind instruments from traditional bands, while the drums draw from the Afro-Antillean rhythmic patterns that have permeated the music of Colombia’s Caribbean and Pacific regions.
Muntu (Album)
“Muntu", deemed one of 2019’s best albums by local media Semana and Arcadia, is a journey through Colombian traditional music and it marks the first appearance of the gauta in Colombian jazz..
The album is the result of a passionate quest to create a new language for the transverse flute in Colombia. Its phrasings draw from marimba melodies and from call-and-response improvisation in traditional rhythms such as bullerengue and chandé.
Muntu serves as a “collective memory” of Colombia’s internal diaspora, bringing seeds of music from the northern and western coasts to bloom in Bogotá’s highlands.
Anamaría Oramas' QUARTET
Anamaría Oramas’ quartet has spent a decade developing their artistic work together.
Santiago Sandoval (guitar) is a composer and researcher working at the intersection of jazz and the musical traditions of Colombia’s Caribbean, Pacific, and Andean regions.
Kike Narváez (drums) is an educator and composer, active in multiple projects accross the colombian scene.
David Cuervo (bass, double bass) specializes in jazz and Latin American music, and has performed with projects such as Colectivo Colombia and the Bogotá Philharmonic Band.
The
Gauta
The gauta is an instrument that combines the body of the transverse flute with the wax-and-charcoal headjoint of the traditional Colombian Caribbean gaita.
The flute’s key system grants the gaita—originally a pentatonic instrument—the chromatic freedom of jazz, while preserving its characteristic texture and expressiveness.
Concerts
& Live Acts
Anamaría Oramas is one of the most important voices of the new generation of jazz in Colombia.
She has performed in virtually all venues and major festivals in her native Colombia, including Estéreo Picnic, the most prominent alternative music festival in the country. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Young Interpreter’s Prize from Banco de la República.
Internationally, her work has reached renowned stages such as the iconic Porgy & Bess in Vienna, and the Latir Festival in Barcelona, Spain. In 2026, she has been invited to take part in the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Jarasum Jazz Festival in South Korea.
