Darrell Sapp , Post-Gazette Jorge Delgado says, "I'm hoping that the music will increase our sense of pride and national spirit." Click photo for larger image. Jorge Delgado and Besame Where:Merson Courtyard at Carnegie Mellon's University Center When: 2:30 p.m. today. Admission: Free. Listen In Listen to from Besame's self-titled CD: "Navidad Negra" "Color Esperanza"

Jorge Delgado's band Besame is oddly configured with its guitar, percussion, soprano saxophone and tuba. And the music he plays -- cumbia and vallenato -- isn't likely anything you've heard blasting on local radio stations.

But for Delgado, who grew up in Bogota, Colombia, it is the music of his country -- indigenous, pastoral and most often accordion-driven folk music.

Vallenato is to Colombia what the blues is to Mississippi and Cajun and zydeco to southern Louisiana.

Today at Carnegie Mellon University, Delgado and Besame (Spanish for "kiss me") will release some of those rhythms during Colombia's Independence Day celebrations -- the South American country celebrated its independence on Thursday.

Today's event is sponsored by "Colombia En Pittsburgh," a tightly knit group of current and former Colombian students as well as Colombian residents living in the area. The organization was founded about five years ago by students at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh.

Other events during the festivities will include an award presentation to Dr. Diego Chaves-Gnecco, a Colombian pediatrician at Children's Hospital. Dr. Chaves-Gnecco will receive the "Catleya," an award that represents the Colombian national flower. There also will be an 11:30 a.m. Mass at St. Hyacinth Church in Oakland, followed by lunch and children's games at Carnegie Mellon's Merson Courtyard.

Around 2:30 p.m., Delgado and Besame will hit the stage, mixing vallenato and cumbia with jazz improvisation and porro rhythms.

"I think this day is very important for me because it will be great to see how the people respond to the music," said guitarist Delgado, who is excited because he recently received his green card. "I'm hoping that the music will increase our sense of pride and national spirit. Many of the people at the event will be Colombians, and I hope the music will help them to think of home and remember our country."

Colombia is vast, sharing common borders with five countries -- Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Panama and Ecuador. There's also an expansive coastline along the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. All these cultures continue to converge, fusing the diverse musical strains that permeate Colombia's musical landscape.

Delgado has become an ambassador for Colombian culture and music, and as such has had to reacquaint himself with many of the country's musical styles -- especially vallenato. For years, the genre struggled on the fringes of Colombian mainstream, but because of efforts of artists such as El maestro Francisco "Pacho" Rada, Rafael Orozco, Diomedes Diaz and, most recently, the Grammy Award-winning soap-opera-star-turned-musician, Carlos Vives, the music has been transported from the cattle regions of Valledupar, Colombia, to Miami.

Delgado came to Pittsburgh about a year ago, after leaving the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, a private university in the Chapinero section of Bogota, where he was a professor of dentistry.

"I was overwhelmed with the work, and I became sick. So I decided I had to do something else. I had friends in Portland and Los Angeles and here in Pittsburgh, so they asked me to come for a visit."

Delgado visited Pittsburgh, returned to Bogota and decided he had to make permanent changes in his life.

"I gave myself seven months to get my work done, and I decided I had to give myself a sabbatical," said Delgado. "I came here to study English, and during that time, I applied to study for my Ph.D," in social and comparative analysis in education with an emphasis on Latin America.

Recently, he was accepted into the Ph.D program at the University of Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, he is practicing and developing his music.

The band, which features Melissa Alliston on percussion, Paul Cindric on soprano sax and Roger Day on tuba, recently released, "Besame," a demo CD of some of their music. All of the songs are performed in Spanish and provide excellent insight into their developing oeuvre.

"Music has always been important in my life," said Delgado. "I've always done it as a hobby even when I was in dental school. It's incredible how much it has meant to me."