Each week, World in Stereo examines classic and modern world music while striving for a greater appreciation of other cultures.
Peña: s/t (Secret Stash Records, 10/12/2010)
Peña: “Tarumbero”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Peña_Tarumbero.mp3|titles=Peña: “Tarumbero”]
It is one thing to travel and experience world cultures other than your own, but it’s another thing to record and share your findings on an album. In March of 2010, Cory Wong and Eric Foss of Minneapolis-based independent record label Secret Stash began planning a dream project that sought to discover and examine the roots of Afro-Peruvian music. Though Secret Stash Records specializes in releasing and cataloging rare grooves from all over the world, this project carves out a different place in the catalog.
Peña — a two-disc CD/DVD collection that comes in an actual secret-stash-esque wooden case — is not a compilation of rediscovered tunes, but instead is a journey through Afro-Peruvian music from a rotating cast of some of the best local musicians in the genre.
The history of Afro-Peruvian music in Peru is similar to the development of the blues in the United States in that they both derive from a “something from nothing” attitude, a musical product of slavery and the rigid lines of social stratification. Initially in the 16th Century, West African slaves brought to the region by the Spanish New World slave trade were sent to mine gold and silver in Peru’s mountainous regions. The black slaves, however, were eventually displaced and reduced to low-skilled physical labor on Peru’s coastal plantations.
By way west of the Andes, the roots of Afro-Peruvian music hold firm in Peru’s coastal provinces. This geographic location sites the early merger of Spanish, Andean, and African cultures that would provide the base not only for the music but the Afro-Peruvian identity. “El Carmen,” the title of Peña’s opening track, is a district found in the province of Chincha, which had the largest plantation in the country, housing 300,000 slaves at one time (almost 1/3 of the slave population).
Reflecting a mentality similar to that of the United States’ Southern slave owners, musical instruments were banned from plantation grounds in hopes of breaking spirits and fracturing any forms of solidarity. This is exactly how rhythm became the cornerstone of the Afro-Peruvian culture, where dances such as the zapateo were created, in which slaves stomped out and shuffled complex rhythms as a form of music.
Another instrument that is purely of Afro-Peruvian descent is the cajón, a wooden drum box that is sat on and played on the front and sides. The cajón has kept its simple construction since it was nothing more than fruit boxes taken by slaves to use as makeshift drums. It provides the percussion for the whole album, usually paired with the Spanish guitar to offer a glimpse of the music in true form.
In April, after only three weeks of planning, Wong and Foss, equipped with a translator, found themselves in Peru’s capitol of Lima in the district of Barranco, 160 miles North of El Carmen. They had no appointments and no list of musicians to see. Instead, they searched under Wong’s ethos: “the way to make a great recording is to place a microphone in front of a great musician and get out of the way.”
Lima has no shortage of musicians, especially in the Barranco district, famous for its folk-centric bars called peñas, where the album’s name stems from. The peña is a place where people meet to play music. With music, dancing, and copious amounts of cheap food and drink, the atmosphere is a cultural experience in itself.
But without access to a recording studio in Lima, Wong and Foss had to bring their own set of recording equipment from the States. Referring to it as “guerrilla recording tactics,” the portable rig helped the duo explore Lima’s music scene unobstructed, allowing them to construct a pop-up studio at a moment’s notice. All in all, they recorded a whopping 50 tracks in less than 7 days, with 17 tracks making the final cut. Whether recording sessions were in classrooms, living rooms, auditoriums, balconies, or even the stoop of their hostel, the tracks on Peña are free-spirited and more or less done in just a couple takes.
Alberto Gil and Larry is just one pair of local personalities in the collective, offering songs that can be heard on the streets of Lima. After an impromptu meeting and jam session on the street, the musicians invited Wong and Foss to their house, where they recorded their portion of the album in their living room.
Wong’s background in Afro-Peruvian music may surprise some, and it’s definitely a surprise to many locals in Barranco. The Secret Stash production manager shows off his Afro-Peruvian guitar studies on many of the album’s tracks, and a few of his performances are included with the album’s accompanying documentary DVD, including a spontaneous jam session with a local café owner.
Wong provides a delightfully somber guitar backing to vocalist Paloma Godoy on one of the album’s most beautiful tracks, “Quizas un Dia Asi.” With Wong’s guitar as her only accompaniment, Godoy’s voice lingers over an arrangement that is simple and romantic.
The album also captures the feeling of two distinct Afro-Peruvian forms: the festejo and landó. As demonstrated by tracks like “El Mayoral” and “Chincha,” the festejo takes its name from the festival and is upbeat in nature, with a choppy yet sweeping metronomic rhythm. The landó, on the other hand, takes its form in minor harmonies and a slow-driving pace. The almost haunting rhythm can be heard in tracks like “Barranco Landó,” or in the backing vocals of Victor Lèon in “Alma Corazón y Vida.”
In the end, Peña has a variety of rhythms and feelings. Secret Stash Records has successfully put together a music collective that justly reflects one of Peru’s most important musical genres. Afro-Peruvian music is seen as a direct reflection of the nation’s social heritage, and the artists of Peña are willing to share it. By going to Lima to find the roots of Afro-Peruvian music, Wong and Foss have uncovered a wealth of local musicians and have proved that the tradition is alive and well.