Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [30]
Music
Like Peru’s food, its traditional music is an intercontinental fusion of elements. Pre-Columbian cultures contributed bamboo flutes, the Spaniards brought stringed instruments and the Africans gave it a backbone of fluid, percussive rhythm. By and large, music tends to be a regional affair: African-influenced landós are predominant on the coast, indigenous huaynos are heard in the Andes and criollo waltzes are danced to in the coastal urban centers.
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Groove to Peru’s Amazon-meets-the-Andes-meets-Colombian-cumbias dance music with The Roots of Chicha, the first chicha compilation album to be released outside Peru.
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In the mountains, huayno is the purest expression of pre-Columbian music. (The most famous huayno is certainly ‘El Cóndor Pasa’, which was made over as a pop standard in the 1970s by the US duo Simon & Garfunkel –and which has been beaten to death by ‘lite’ music enthusiasts ever since.) Stylistically, it’s heavy on bamboo wind instruments such as quenas (bamboo flutes of varying lengths) and zampoñas (panpipes). Also seen are ocarinas, small, oval, clay instruments with up to 12 holes. For percussion, drums are typically made from a hollowed tree trunk covered with a stretched goatskin. Huaynos, typically referred to as música folklórica (folkloric music), are musical arrangements that include the use of string instruments, the most typical being the charango, a tiny 10-stringed mandolin made out of an armadillo shell. Many contemporary huaynos also include the use of harps, and even brass instruments can generally be seen being used by the cacophonous strolling bands that parade through small Peruvian towns on fiesta days. For a worthwhile roundup of good música folklórica, pick up Andean Legacy by Narada, a label specializing in global sounds.
Over the last several decades, the huayno has blended with surf guitars and Colombian cumbia to produce chicha – a danceable sound closely identified with the Amazon region. It is what you will likely hear if holed up in a working-class bar, though it does turn up regularly on dance floors at upscale discos in Lima. Well-known chicha bands include Los Shapis, Los Mirlos and Grupo Belen de Tarma. Cumbia, as a result, is also very popular. Grupo 5, which hails from the Chiclayo area, is currently one of the favorite bands in this genre.
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If you’re going to buy only one piece of criollo music to take home, consider Arturo ‘Zambo’ Cavero’s achingly beautiful eponymous album from 1993. A downloadable version can be purchased online.
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On the coast, música criolla (criollo music) has its roots in both Spain and Africa. The main instrumentation is guitars and a cajón, a wooden box on which the player sits and drums out a rhythm with his hands. The most famous of criollo styles is the vals peruano (Peruvian waltz), a 3/4-time waltz that in no way resembles anything coming out of Vienna. It is fast moving, rhythmic and full of complex Spanish-guitar melodies. The most legendary criolla singer and composer is Chabuca Granda (1920–1983), whose breathy vocals and expressive lyrics are full of longing and nostalgia. Also well regarded is Lucha Reyes (1936–1973), who in addition to her powerful voice was renowned for her extravagant wigs. Arturo ‘Zambo’ Cavero (1940–2009) was another revered crooner, known for his gravelly vocals and soulful interpretation of Peruvian classics. (His death, in 2009, generated wall-to-wall coverage on Peruvian television and drew thousands of mourners, including President Alan García.)
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For an excellent primer on black Peruvian music, pick up – or download – the David Byrne–produced compilation Afro-Peruvian Classics: The Soul of Black Peru.