Editor’s note: Some quotes in this story were translated from Spanish into English.
Crowds wandered farmers’ market booths Valentine’s Day morning, chatting, snacking and laughing, when a man with a marimba took the stage.
Musician Isaac Salazar belted a cumbia song, playing marimba and two synthesizers. As one of the Bloomington Winter Farmers’ Market’s live performers, Salazar said he finds joy in seeing “everyone dance.”
The Bloomington Winter Farmers’ Market was created in 2004 and takes place at Switchyard Park Pavilion from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Saturday morning November through March. During the market there are two musical sets, typically including acoustic performances, according to Bloomington Winter Farmers' Market Manager Lisa Goch.
Salazar performed with Melodía Latina, a group of two to six musicians who Salazar met through his years performing in the Indianapolis area. Unlike a traditional group, the band is flexible to their customer’s budget, changing number of members or music styles based on each request, Salazar said. Their styles include bolero, cha-cha-cha, slow salsa and Latin pop.
Salazar said he plays a variety of music styles including cumbia, merengue, cha-cha-cha and bachata. His personal favorite is a folkloric style of music featuring the marimba.
Marimbas are similar to xylophones, are made of wooden bars and played with mallets. It’s a precussion instrument and is named after a south African goddess from Zulu tribal legends acoording to Yamaha's instrument guide.
Salazar’s love of the marimba began on Christmas Eve when he was 6 years old.
“This Christmas, I said, ‘this night, I’m going to discover Santa Claus,’” Salazar said.
During his childhood in Nicaragua, Salazar’s family had a tradition of putting small presents under their pillows while they slept, he said.
That night, a wooden toy marimba appeared under his pillow. Salazar has loved the instrument ever since.
Calling himself a street musician, Salazar isn’t limited to marimba and plays everything from the guitar to the congas. His father, who was also a musician, taught him to play many of the instruments.
“I love an instrument that has a natural sound,” Salazar said. “I love the instruments that have this sound because of this type of connection with nature. Many times, instruments become my favorites in whatever moment.”
Beyond solo performances, Salazar is a founding member of a marimba-based folkloric band called El Marimbaso. El Marimbaso, which performs primarily in Indianapolis, recently played for a Día de Reyes celebration at the Eiteljorg Museum in January.
Goch said she first saw Salazar perform as part of El Marimbaso at Bloomington Woolery Farmers’ Market, which has since shut down, several years ago.
“He really engaged our audience,” Goch said. “Everybody was just picnicking in front of the music and dancing.”
When she received Salazar’s application, Goch said she was excited to bring Salazar to the Bloomington Winter Farmers’ Market.
The market looks for performers who engage well with customers, especially children, she said.
“Children like to plop themselves down right in front of music, just hang out there, and they love to dance,” Goch said.
That Saturday of Valentine’s Day, three children and a man in a cowboy hat and a shirt that read “Vote for Pedro” danced in front of Salazar. The kids came up and played marimba with him. Two vendors from Lost in the Woods Meadery spun each other around and swayed from side to side.
Salazar said this is one of his favorite parts of performing. He often tries to include children by letting them experiment by playing the marimba with him.
“I love to play merengue, I love to play cumbia, I love to play cha-cha-cha, I love to play bachata, but my role as a musician is to share this moment with the children,” Salazar said.
Goch said she sees performers like Salazar as a way to bring free live music to the public. It’s a special experience for marketgoers to enjoy music for free. These performers are also an important part of the market’s culture.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bloomington Winter Farmers’ Market was unable to have live music performances, making musicians like Salazar feel more important, Goch said.
“A vital part of Bloomington's community is kind of food and music,” Goch said. “Those are huge components of the Bloomington experience. So they just kind of naturally go together.”
While Salazar’s upcoming performances are mostly private events, videos about past events are on his Facebook pages for Melodía Latina and El Marimbaso.
In the future, Salazar said he hopes to teach free music lessons for children in the community. He remembers a time when he was 8 years old and his father approached a piano player in Nicaragua to ask him to teach his son.
“The professor looked at me and told me if you can’t pay, I can’t teach you,” Salazar said. “This impacted me a lot.”
Salazar sees lessons as way to share his love of music with the community without cost.
“In this medium can unlock light, can unlock ideas, can unlock emotions, it can unlock so many things in a child, understand?” Salazar said. “It can be a beginning, and so this is my favorite part musically.”
