Orinoco flow

Venezuela, a country of roughly 24 million people located on South America’s Caribbean coast, is twice the size of California. It’s been in the news lately, due to an attempted mid-April coup that may or may not have something to do with some oil-bidness and shadow-government types from a certain country north of Mexico. Irene Farrera hails from Venezuela, but she lives in the Northwest now. Farrera sings in a smoky alto that seemingly thickens when it hits the air; she’s backed by the seven-piece group Venezuela Viva, which etches an atmospheric backdrop, on stringed instruments and percussion, with the dramatic flair of the best Lusaphone pop (Brazilian, Cape Verdean) and the roiling-thunder intensity of Argentine tango. You can see them perform Venezuelan folkloric music 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 15, at Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St; the cover is $10.