A pretty darn thorough look at the music of Peru

This week on Al compás del mundo we’re taking a pretty darn thorough look at the music of Peru (foregoing contemporary pop music that for a large part sounds like that of any other country in the world.) If you thought Peru was limited to Machu Picchu, llamas, and Incan history, you’d be wrong. They’re out of the Andean region and offer an important but incomplete overview of cultural traditions and the music handed down. Andean music comes from the indigenous peoples, mostly rural, who have populated the mountainous areas since before history took note. Instrumentation is characterized by flutes, simple drum patterns, and the charango, or armadillo “guitar.” >>>

Al compás del mundo - programa #155, Runlisto

First broadcast 11-21-24,

Peru - Andean, Creole, Afro, Amazonian

01 Condemayta de Acomayo - Cuerpo soltero

02 Puka - Adiós pueblo de Ayacucho

03 Los Uros del Titicaca - Ojos azules

04 El Comunero De Los Andes - Huaylas Comunero

05 Inkhay - Rosaura

06 Florencio Coronado - Alma, corazón y vida

07 Los Errantes de Chuquibamba - Llanto por llanto

08 Los Romanceros Criollos - Chinita linda

09 Los Morochucos - Qué importa

10 Lucha Reyes - José Antonio

11 Arturo 'Zambo' Cavero - Son de los diablos

12 Lucila Campos - Saca tu machete

13 De Familia - Mamá Juanita

14 Los Diablos Rojos - El Guapo

15 Juaneco y Su Combo - Linda nena

16 Los Hijos del Sol – Cariñito

17 Los Mirlos - Muchachita del Oriente

Afro-Peru

>>> Creole refers to the European immigrants’ influence, introducing waltzes, polkas, mazurkas and other styles to a mostly urban audience considered “more refined” by many of the middle and upper classes. Admittedly, all these genres borrowed from each other, though probably the greatest contrast to Creole music is that of the Afro-Peruvians.

Relying on African traditions brought to the New World, Afro music from the coastal areas is more percussive and reliant on multiple voices in backup choral (communal) settings. The final categorization and the most recent to emerge (1960s) speaks of Northeastern Peru, the Amazonian region. The lively combo music from those parts was originally known as “chicha,” named after a local fermented beverage. Subsequently it has been dubbed “psychedelic cumbia.” Not sure if that comes from jungle ayahuasca sessions, but the debt to surf guitar and Colombian cumbia is obvious (long live the farfisa organ!)

The playlist runs in order according to the genres I’ve listed. Even without a narrator defining them, I think the styles of music speak for themselves and the shifts from one to the next apparent. My overly brief and simplistic descriptions give a basic notion of what you’ll hear, but if you pay attention, in an hour’s time you will learn enough about the great variety of Peru’s musical traditions so that, hopefully, you’ll want to explore further and my job will have been well done. JH

Comments

Al compás del mundo - programa #99 - Los Folkloristas

This week’s Al compás del mundo earns a pair of dedications. Primarily, to Las Folkloristas, a group of Mexican musicians who first came together in 1966 and who continue to the present day, delighting their public and educating them as to the breadth of folk music genres and instrumentation found in every corner of Latin America. The second dedication is to me and my sweetheart wife Claudia – we met at a concert of Los Folkloristas at the Sala Agora in Mexico City, in 1976. And yes, we too are still together. Get out your handkerchiefs and dry your eyes because there’s a story to be told as evidence that there’s a soulmate out there for everyone. You just have to make the effort to look, even if it takes you to a foreign land. And so it goes like this: I spent all of 1976 living in Mexico City, ostensibly to learn Spanish, but en realidad to loaf around, drink beer, practice my saxophone, and maybe, just maybe, look to meet a señorita. I lived in a pension (boardinghouse) owned by Jul...

Al compas del mundo, programa #92 - Japan

The Japanese historically have been a most creative people, excelling in aesthetic conventions like architecture, painting, culinary arts, theatre, music, and more. A craftsman’s care and an artist’s flair have come to define everyday household objects such as articles of clothing and kitchen ware, designed with a sensibility that imbues them with import and elevated status. After WWII in the United States however, an item inscribed “made in Japan” usually indicated a tchotchke of mediocre quality. A perfect example is the large number of Northwest Coast Native American-style bone totem poles made for the tourist shops in the Northwest. There is a distinctive difference in these “artifacts” from the real, home-made variety that illustrates someone from another culture tackling aesthetics they don’t fully comprehend. And that leads us to some of this week’s musical choices. Imitating Western pop, rock and jazz, Japanese artists have recorded many forgettable efforts – not unlike those o...

Al compas del mundo - programa #114 - potpourri of fun, fun, fun

Fun, Fun, Fun. And I do mean fun. Sometimes this summary of a weekly radio show veers off to a serious side, but not today. Not with this batch of winners. Not when we’re leading off with Los Xochimilcas. Like a mix of The Three Stooges and Spike Jones, they clamor for a round of “pulque for two!” with an eloquent danzón accompaniment. Then there’s Pigbag showing off some serious jazz chops…but is it jazz? Then again, who cares? Why fret over labels when we’re here to have fun?! So The Magnetic Fields’ tune isn’t exactly light-hearted glee and all, but fun comes in many packages. I had fun when I first heard I Die You Die. They sounded like the Velvet Underground had they hailed from West Virginia instead of New York. That’s not fun? Relatively speaking, there’s always room for Ennio Morricone. That lonesome whistle thrills me, along with the chorus of grunting injuns. A Spaghetti Western at its stereotypical best. Allen Toussaint, by the way, is one hell of a song writer, in cas...

Search This Blog