Chuck Prophet & His Cumbia Shoes

Chuck Prophet and His Cumbia Shoes

When a stage four lymphoma diagnosis forced him off the road and into the hospital, Chuck Prophet did not know if he would live long enough to see the end of the year, let alone get back on tour.

I was going through a tunnel, he recalls. It was dark. But I had music: music to play, music to listen to, music to get me out of my head. Music was my savior.

That much is plain to hear on Wake The Dead, Prophets extraordinary new album. Recorded with band of brothers ?Qiensave?, the collection explores the world of Cumbia music, which consumed and comforted Prophet during his illness and subsequent recovery. The songs are intoxicatingly rhythmic, all but demanding you move your body, with arrangements that blur the lines between tradition and innovation. There are flashes of rock and roll, punk, surf, and…