Apr 3, 2018

RhoDeo 1813 Roots

Hello, Afro-Peruvian music has its roots in the communities of black slaves brought to work in the mines along the Peruvian coast. As such, it's a fair way from the Andes, culturally and geographically. However, as it developed, particularly in the 20th century, it drew on Andean, Spanish, and African traditions, while its modern exponents also have affinities with Andean nueva canción. The music was little known even in Peru until the 1950s, when it was popularized by the seminal performer Nicomedes Santa Cruz, whose body of work was taken a step further in the 1970s by the group Perú Negro and then in 2002 by Peru Expresion. Internationally, this form of music has had recent international publicity through David Byrne's Luaka Bop label, issuing the compilation Perú Negro and solo albums by Susana Baca.


Afro-Peruvian music, or Música negra, is a type of Latin American music first developed by black slaves from West Africa in Peru, where it is known as música criolla. The genre is a mix of West African and Spanish music... ......N'Joy

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Much of the original music has been lost, but in the 1950s a revival was staged by José Durand, a white Peruvian criollo who was a folklore professor, and Porfirio Vásquez. Durand founded the Pancho Fierro Dance Company. Drawing upon elderly members of the community for memories of musical traditions, Durand collaborated with Vásquez to revive various songs and dances to create the repertoire for the group. One of the best known is his revival of the carnival dance “El Son de los Diablos.” In colonial times, this dance was featured in parades with a fleet of austere, pure angels leading the way, followed by the mischievous devils. In the revival of the dance, the angels were eliminated, and the crowds were entertained by rambunctious devils and their leader “el diablo mayor.” The dance featured energetic zapateo tap-dancing. The group performed for about two years, including a concert for Peruvian composer Chabuca Granda and a tour through Chile.

Actually, poet Nicomendes Santa Cruz and Victoria Santa Cruz (siblings) both created Cumanana (1957) an Afroperuvian ensemble that highlighted the rich West and Central African call and response poetry, music / dance traditions that were a staple of Peruvian culture and are essentially valued to this day.

One long lasting Afro-Peruvian dance company was Perú Negro, which, incorporated more modern use of percussion combined with criollo music. Perú Negro is also known for their use of blackface, celebrating the mixture of African and Spanish heritage. Two of their best known pieces are “Dance of the Laundresses,” which depicts historical hard working yet beautiful black women in Peru, and the “Canto a Elegua,” which shows tribal religion before the Spanish influence.

Lima and Chincha are two areas where there are many performers of this music, which is played in night clubs, dinner dances and festivals. Notable artists and groups through the years have included Victoria and Nicomedes Santa Cruz, Lucila Campos, Pepe Vásquez, and Susana Baca. One of the best known songs in the genre is Peru's "Toro Mata".

Today, Afro-Peruvians (also known as Afrodescent Peruvians) reside mainly on the central and south coast, with the majority of the population in the provinces of Lima, Callao, Nazca, Chincha, Ica and Cañete. Many Afro-Peruvians live on the northern coast in Lambayeque and Piura. The greatest concentration of Afro-Peruvians and mestizos of Afrodescent is in the Callao, an area that has historically received many of the Afro-Peruvians from the north and southern coast.

On the southern coast of the Ica Region, there are many cotton fields and vineyards, and the area is commonly known for its black populations such as that in El Carmen of the populous Chincha Province. There are other such towns in the Nazca, Ica City and in the district of San Luis in the Cañete Province near Lima, and Nazca to the south of Lima. In Lima, the towns best known for having large concentrations of Afro-descended populations are Puente Piedra, Chorrillos, Rimac, and La Victoria. Afro-Peruvians also reside in the northern regions of Peru such as La Libertad and Ancash, but the larger populations are concentrated in the northern valley plantations of the regions of Piura and Lambayeque.

Most Afro-Peruvian communities live in rural farming areas where mango, rice, and sugarcane production is present. Contrary to the southern coast, these communities are mainly found away from the coastal shores and into the region of the yungas, where the plain meets the Andes. The greatest Afro-Peruvian populations of the north coast are found mainly in the outskirts of the Morropón Province and concentrate themselves in Piura and Tumbes. The central province of Morropón is well known for its black communities in cities such as Chulucanas, Yapatera, Chapica del Carmelo, La Matanza, Pabur (Hacienda Pabur), Morropón, Salitral, Buenos Aires, San Juan de Bigote and Canchaque, and to the north Tambogrande. All of these cities belong to the Piura Region, where there are large rice fields and mango plantations. South of the Lambayeque Region and north of La Libertad where sugarcane production was very productive in the past, there are several cities known for their black inhabitants. Examples are the colonial city of Saña in Lambayeque, famous for being the second most important Afro-Peruvian city of the Peruvian north. Tuman, Capote, Cayaltí, and Batán Grande within the region of Lambayeque also have large amounts of Afro-Peruvian populations in the sugarcane region.

In November 2009, the Peruvian government issued an official apology to Peru's Afro-Peruvian people for centuries of racial injustice; it was the first such apology ever made by the government.

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Here the classic 1969 South American Psychedelic freakbeat album recorded by Peruvian band The (St. Thomas) Pepper Smelter Soul & Pepper music. Perhaps the story of the band is not well known, but their achievements were great—and international: editions of their sole LP were produced in Peru, Mexico, Brazil and Ecuador, and 45rpm singles were published in Mexico and Greece. St. Thomas Pepper Smelter was formed by Gerardo Manuel Rojas on vocals and tambourine, Beto Tataje on rhythm guitar and lead guitar, Juan Carlos Barreda on bass and vocals, Carlos Manuel Barreda on drums and backing vocals (all from the famous group Los Shains), and Freddy Macedo on keyboards. Their first single was a cover of ‘Purple Haze’ b/w one of their own compositions, ‘A New Summer.’ The band then began to record their only LP. That album contains twelve tracks—six written by the band, and the other half cover versions. The band’s music could be described as freak beat; in many ways, it is a preview of the garage /surf style of Los Shain’s, heading towards the heavy psychedelic rock of Gerardo Manuel & El Humo. At the time, St. Thomas Pepper Smelter simply called it “underground music.” Gerardo’s voice is soft in the band’s own songs, and aggressive on the cover tunes; his guitar style oozes fuzz. The foundation of bass and drums by the brothers Barreda is very powerful and strong; and the songs benefit from the layers of keyboard played by Freddy Macedo. Disbanded 1970



 The (Saint Thomas) Pepper Smelter - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida   (flac  250mb)

01 In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
02 Pepper's Boogaloo (El Boogaloo De La Pimienta)
03 Strange Brew (Extraño Brebaje)
04 Words Of Pain (Palabras De Dolor)
05 People (La Gente)
06 Heart Teaser (Corazón Embromado)
07 Can You See Me? (Puedes Verme)
08 Answer (La Respuesta)
09 Betty Boom-Little Monster-Doggie And Peggie At The Witches Castle
10 Hey, Joe
11 Is My Guitar (Es Mi Guitarra)
12 Raga Gag

The (Saint Thomas) Pepper Smelter - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (ogg   101mb )


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We All Together (WAT) was a Peruvian rock and roll band formed in 1971. They composed songs both in English and Spanish during their career. Their most known songs are the cover "Carry On Till Tomorrow" (originally by Badfinger), "Hey Revolution" and "It's A Sin To Go Away", which appeared on Nuggets II. The first line-up was formed by Saul Cornejo, his brother Manuel Cornejo, and Carlos Guerrero, who were the founding members, as well as Carlos Salom and Ernesto Samamé. They broke up in 1974 and regrouped in 1989 and currently consist of Carlos Guerrero, Carlos Pacheco, and Iván Cárdenas. The group once again disbanded after a farewell concert on November 5, 2011, celebrating their 40 years of music



We All Together - Singles   (flac  346mb)

01 Lo Mas Grande Que Existe En El Amor
02 Soy Timido
03 Symbox Queen
04 We Live Too Fast
05 Dear Sally
06 Nadie Me Ama Como Tu
07 Rock Of All Ages
08 She's So Sweet
09 Everyday
10 She Knows
11 Band On The Run
12 Bluebird
13 Together

We All Together - Singles (ogg 147mb)

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As you'd expect, Peru Bravo presents a multicolored, kaleidoscopic journey full of mileposts familiar and obscure. Several tracks revisit rock and funk tunes popular in the US: Jeriko picks up the blues "Hey Joe" (popular from the famous Jimi Hendrix version of the time) and dresses it in Jose Feleciano threads, his strumming guitar barely able to keep pace with his impassioned vocal. Los Texao's take on "Sookie Sookie" (popularized by Steppenwolf) unleashes the pure Dionysian frenzy of rock 'n' roll, with a frantic vocal that barely touches down on the music and psychedelic guitar and organ chords singing in raggedly perfect harmony. Peru Bravo programs them back to back, and back in their day, "Hey Joe" and "Sookie Sookie" would have comprised a killer two-sided single. But not every cover works out so well: Everybody in Los Holys gets the rhythmic point of The Meters' classic "Cissy Strut" except for the drummer—who, unfortunately, plays the most important part. It can sound so simple but that slippery Crescent City second line rhythm is hard to...uh, beat.

The rest of the original music is more original than less, although certainly inspired by musical happenings in the rest of the world. The horns in "Everything's Gonna Change" by Jean Paul "El Troglodita" harmonize with the guitar hook, swing alongside the lead vocal, and suggest in other ways "Saturday in the Park" from the early days of Chicago, when they were worth listening to. The San Francisco sound, an essential pillar of the psychedelic music community, comes through Los Destellos' "Onsta la Yerbita," a washed-out electric blues that suggests the Jefferson Airplane flying over Peru; and "La Camita" by Traffic Sound, which more predictably sounds like Latin rock-jazz pioneers Santana. Peru Bravo opens with the powerful yet charming "Bahia" by Laghonia, which leaps off from the same fevered psychedelic guitar peak where the Shocking Blue wrote their hormonal hymn to the goddess on the mountaintop "Venus," and compels you to, "Move all your body, don't stand like a rock/ Bahia is all that you need—hey hey!"



VA - Peru Bravo (Funk, Soul & Psych from Peru's Radical Decade)   (flac  314mb)

01 Laghonia - Bahia 4:29
02 Traffic Sound - La Camita 2:48
03 Jean Paul "El Troglodita"* - Everything's Gonna Change 4:01
04 Cacique - Cacique 2:58
05 Los Holy's - Cissy Strut 2:20
06 Thee Image - Outasite 2:56
07 Black Sugar - Checan 5:10
08 Los Belking's - Sabata 2:24
09 Telegraph Avenue - Sungaligali 4:01
10 Los Texao - Sookie Sookie 3:13
11 Jeriko - Hey Joe 2:41
12 Los Destellos - Onsta La Yerbita 6:14
13 Los Nuevos Shains - Pancito Caliente 2:25
14 The Mad's - Aouh Aouh 6:36
15 Los Comandos - El Sermón 3:46

VA - Peru Bravo (Funk, Soul & Psych from Peru's Radical Decade) (ogg  127mb)

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This is a great collection of Afro-Peruvian music collected by David Byrne for his Luaka Bop label. Peru is already known for its traditional Spanish/Indian music, with pan flutes, etc. This is very different. Peru, like most of the Americas, imported slaves from Africa at one time. This collection showcases the music of their descendants, a product of Spanish, American Indian and African influences. This fine album of Afro-Peruvian music features the voices of Susana Baca (in photo at right), Eva Ayllon and Peru Negro. Dance is what gives meaning to this music. You can feel it the first time you hear it. Afro-Peruvians dance during their suffering or their joy, at parties or funerals, at work or rest. In this culture the body asks for free and ample expression, without judgement.



VA - Afro-Peruvian Classics (The Soul of Black Peru) ( flac  316mb)

01 Susana Baca - Maria Lando
02 Manuel Donayre - Yo No Soy Jaqui
03 Cecilia Barraza - Canterurias
04 Lucila Campos - Samba Malato
05 Roberto Rivas & El Conjunto Gente Morena - Enciendete, Canela
06 Eva Ayllon - Azuca De Cana
07 Abelardo Vásquez & Cumanana - Prendeme La Vela
08 Chabuca Granda - Lando
09 Lucila Campos - Toro Mata
10 Peru Negro - Son De Los Diablos
11 Nicomedes Santa Cruz - No Me Cumben
12 Chabuca Granda - Una Larga Noche
13 Peru Negro - Lando
14 David Byrne - Maria Lando

VA - Afro-Peruvian Classics (The Soul of Black Peru) (ogg  145mb)

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for posting Black Peru
Robert