César López

This article is about the Colombian musician. For the Paraguayan footballer, see César López Fretes. For the Mexican guitarist, see César "Vampiro" López.

César López
Origin	Bogota, Colombia
Instruments	Voice, Guitar, Drums, Piano
Website	CesarLopez.org
Notable instruments
Escopetarra

César López is a Colombian musician. For the past several years, López has been part of a group, the Battalion of Immediate Artistic Reaction, which consists of various other musicians and activists seeking alternatives to the ever-present violence that plagues Colombia and its capital of Bogotá. Whenever news of violent attacks in the country arrives, the group convenes on site and plays music for victims.

López is the creator of the escopetarra, a largely symbolic musical instrument which is an AK-47 converted into a guitar.

Escopetarra

Main article: Escopetarra

A Lopez Escopetarra on display at the United Nations Headquarters.

López's most well-known achievement is the Escopetarra, which are decommissioned AK-47s converted into guitars. So far, only a few dozen of these guitars have been produced, but upon completion, López intends to give the guitars to high-profile musicians across the world, such as Juanes, Fito Páez, Bob Geldof and Manu Chao, and to political and religious leaders such as Kofi Annan.

References

• "Making Music Out Of Menace", Miami Herald, March 7, 2006

External links

External audio
	Sample of Cesar Lopez' music

• TodaBalaEsperdida.com, Cesar Lopez TODA BALA ES PERDIDA' website.
• cesarlopez.org, Cesar Lopez' website
• @CesarLopezMusic , Cesar Lopez' Twitter.
• Killer Sound, Kevin Sites, Yahoo! News, 24 April 2006
• Colombian musicians organise online, BBC News, 1 June 2006