Afro-Peruvian+Music

=Afro-Peruvian Music=

Afro-Peruvian music, or Musica Negra, was first created by black slaves that were brought from West Africa by Spanish Conquistadores to work the mines along the Pacific coast in the 1500’s. It is more commonly known as Musica Criolla in Peru. It is a mix of West African and Spanish music. Musica Criolla consists of flamenco-influenced guitar sounds, and also percussion instruments, including cajon (boxed-shaped instrument), cajita (wooden instrument), and an idiophone percussion instrument (jawbone of various animals.) Slave owners tried to crush their spirits by banning musical instruments, but they created instruments out of many things. Most of the original music has been lost but there was a large revival in the 1950’s by Jose Durand, a folklore professor, and Porfirio Vasquez. They called on elderly members of the community to gather musical memories and traditions. Durand created Pancho Fierro Dance Company. Durand and Vasquez revived songs and dances for this group. Their best known revival is “El Son de los Diablos.” The group performed this song for several years while on tour. A long-running Afro-Peruvian dance group was Peru Negro. They utilized more modern percussion with the criollo sound. Their best-known piece is the “Dance of the Laundresses.” This dance tells the story of historical, hard-working, beautiful black women in Peru.

The Afro-Peruvian music is found in the Southern regions of Peru, and prevalently in Lima and Chincha by many artists and performers in night clubs, dinner-dances, and various festivals. Examples of artists include Lucila Compas and Pepe Vasquez. One of the best-known songs of the genre is Peru’s “Toro Mata.” Toro Mata (“The Bull Kills” in Spanish) has remained very popular through the years and a dance was also created for this song. The dance-song combo is considered the “anthem of Peru.” This dance mocks the dance style of the Conquistadores. One of the most famous versions of Toro Mata was performed in 1973 by Carlos Soto de la Colina.

In more modern times, David Byrne of The Talking Heads, released “The Soul of Black Peru” in 1995 which introduced the musical stylings of Afro-Peruvian music to Western audiences. Eva Ayllon is considered the best representative of Afro-Peruvian music. Her songs celebrate the Afro-Peruvian culture which makes up only 5% of Peru’s overall population. Afro-Peruvian music is still very prevalent today, thanks to the revival in the 1950’s, and celebrates what the culture has given to complement Peruvian culture.

By: Laura Reed