For over 35 years, the two-time Grammy-nominated Perú Negro has been reinvigorating Peru’s rich black culture of all over the world via dance and music. Appointed as "Cultural Ambassadors of Black Peru" by the Peruvian government, they became the group to emulate by other bands in this genre. Founded by the late Ronaldo Campos, Perú Negro is now led by his son Rony Campos - who is exploring new routes for the ensemble. While Perú Negro was originally made up of 12 family members, today there are more than 30 individuals involved - many still family- and they have a school for their young group in Lima called Perú Negrito. Just in time to celebrate their latest CD, Zamba Malató (Times Square Records), released on January 22, the ensemble performed at the New York City Center on January 26 as part of their 46-city, three-month tour.
Perú Negro’s live show, which includes a 20-member ensemble, including dancers, band and vocalists, features material from their new album, Zamba Malató (which name refers to an old chant sung by black women as they worked on their daily chores). Starting out with an upbeat ritual dance called “Afro,” the dancers wore tan-colored cloths and danced with little wooden drums and machetes, moving to the pulsating rhythm made possible by the African wooden goblet-shaped hand drum - the djembe. The show started to pick up momentum during the second half when they performed classics such as the party favorite, "Pancha Remolino," and the Peruvians in the audience clapped joyfully and tapped along with their feet.
Lead vocalist in the show as well as the album, Mónica Dueñas, sang the well-known festejo, "Una Negra y un Negro," getting some audience participation by asking the crowd to repeat the lively chorus "Eso no se dice" but she lacks the inner vocal strength of Afro-Peruvian legends like Eva Ayllón and Susana Baca. Right after came another classic, "Toro Mata," made famous worldwide when Celia Cruz recorded it back in 1978. Perú Negro successfully brought this landó (a slower paced and more sensual version of the festejo) back to life. Dressed in stark white colonial-style ruffled outfits, this dance mocks European slave-owner dances that slaves used to observe in the 1500’s in Peru.
The melodic closing song "Bailarás," composed by Allan Phillips, is a more modern take of an Afro-Peruvian song that resuscitates tradition with the kikongo chants - the dialect spoken by many of the slaves in Peru when they first arrived. To sum up the performance, the dancers flooded the stage in different eye-pleasing costumes worn throughout the night. But they should have stopped before the excitement wore off, as the act got too repetitive and tiresome.
Overall, the costumes by Mercedes Campos and Soledad Ysusqui are colorful and theatrical, and the dancing and singing elegantly organized. However, the show is missing the roughness, sweat and soul of what is the essence of black Peru. Instead of giving off powerful vibrations that overflow into the audience, the performance is too neat and tidy.
(Published in NYRemezcla.com)
Showing posts with label Afro-Peruvian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Afro-Peruvian. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Eva Ayllón: Diva del Landó
To experience Eva Ayllón, is to experience Peru. Eva is to Peru what Celia Crúz is to Cuba - a woman with a tremendous singing voice, who’s full of adoration and passion for her country— feelings that inevitably envelope the listener as well.
For 35 years, Eva has been entertaining her people, as well as massive audiences all over the world with her beloved Afro-Peruvian music, known in Peru as música criolla.
On Sunday July 17th, in celebration of Peru’s upcoming Independence Day, Eva Ayllón gave her first Queens performance at La Oveja Negra. Hundreds of Peruvian fans of all ages – from twenty to seventy-somethings--gave her a warm greeting chanting, "Eva! Evaaa!"
Eva opened the show with the late Chabuca Granda’s famous vals, "Fina Estampa." The crowd became spellbound and began taking out their camera phones to capture the special moment digitally. Next came "Negra Presuntuosa," from her latest album, Eva! Leyenda Peruana (2004); the audience quickly started swaying their hips to the captivating rhythm. It’s not everyday they get to see Eva Ayllón sing the treasured songs they grew up hearing at family reunions and civic gatherings.
Eva is known for singing traditional genres, such as the landó, the festejo, and the vals: all mestizo blends of coastal Peru’s Andean, African, and Spanish heritage.
Landós originated from an Angolan fertility dance called "londu" brought to Brazil by the slaves. The Peruvian landó is a blend of Spanish and African rhythms. "El landó llego en Peru en el año 1520, cuando los negros llegaron a Peru," Eva explained. "Ha sido el ritmo que he ayudado el esclavo a recordar su tierra. El landó es la lloranza del negro esclavo – como decir ‘te extraño’ a la tierra."
The landó is a bit slower than the festejo, although both contain a prominent beat from the cajón. Festejos, her most festive songs of all, were meant for celebrations. They trigger quick dance movements by the body, like a sensual communication between the dancers. "Ingá," and "Le dije a Papá" are some famous festejos.
For the performance, Eva’s voice was backed-up by a cajón, congos, bongo, piano, electronic bass, and a guitar. She was also accompanied by two back up singers: her sister Rosa Ayllón and Brazilian Sofia Buitrón. Buitrón and Eva danced a fiery festejo during the show – the two of them imitating each others’ rapid undulating torso and leg movements.
In addition to landós and festejos, Eva also sings the much slower and romantic vals. "Cuando llora mi Guitarra" and "Que Somos Amantes" are examples of this genre derived from the Viennese waltz but with Spanish guitar riffs, and boleros. Eva further demonstrated her romantic side during the show by throwing rose stems to the audience.
All her songs are unique for her, she says, "Todas tienen un gran significado. Son como mis hijas." Eva conveys the love she has for her songs during her performances. She is a passionate woman who feels what she sings, as if the lyrics were flowing out of her heart.
Eva was born María Angélica Ayllón Urbina in 1956. She started her singing career at the early age of three under her grandmother’s tutelage. Ayllón adopted "Eva" from her grandmother. She didn’t come from a musical family, "Siento que [mi talento] fue reincarnada de alguien o de muchas personas. Yo creo mucho en la reincarnación," she says.
Ayllón started out singing at school competitions. Soon after, she worked her way up to television and radio. By the 1970’s, she was appearing in the local peñas criollas (a gathering of musicians, typical in South America). From 1973 to 1975, she was the lead singer in the trio Los Kipus, and in 1978, she debuted as a soloist with the release of Esta Noche. By 1979, she began touring internationally, all over Europe, the United States, Canada, and Japan. And in 1989, she sang in Los Hijos del Sol, a group comprised of all-star Peruvian musicians including master drummer Alex Acuña. By 2002, with over 20 albums in her discography, she received her eighth award for achieving double platinum status for the album, 30 Años en Vivo (2000).
Ayllón left her beloved Peru and moved to New Jersey six months ago to be with her family. "Todo es alla para mi, dentro de mi pais, pero el amor te arranca a cualquier tierra," says Eva.
Judging from her adoring fans, Eva has been most-heartily welcomed to the U.S. Her message to all of them: "Que se sienten feliz, y que yo traigo un poco de Peru…que se recuerden sus calles, sus casas, sus camas…"
(Published in NYRemezcla.com)
For 35 years, Eva has been entertaining her people, as well as massive audiences all over the world with her beloved Afro-Peruvian music, known in Peru as música criolla.
On Sunday July 17th, in celebration of Peru’s upcoming Independence Day, Eva Ayllón gave her first Queens performance at La Oveja Negra. Hundreds of Peruvian fans of all ages – from twenty to seventy-somethings--gave her a warm greeting chanting, "Eva! Evaaa!"
Eva opened the show with the late Chabuca Granda’s famous vals, "Fina Estampa." The crowd became spellbound and began taking out their camera phones to capture the special moment digitally. Next came "Negra Presuntuosa," from her latest album, Eva! Leyenda Peruana (2004); the audience quickly started swaying their hips to the captivating rhythm. It’s not everyday they get to see Eva Ayllón sing the treasured songs they grew up hearing at family reunions and civic gatherings.
Eva is known for singing traditional genres, such as the landó, the festejo, and the vals: all mestizo blends of coastal Peru’s Andean, African, and Spanish heritage.
Landós originated from an Angolan fertility dance called "londu" brought to Brazil by the slaves. The Peruvian landó is a blend of Spanish and African rhythms. "El landó llego en Peru en el año 1520, cuando los negros llegaron a Peru," Eva explained. "Ha sido el ritmo que he ayudado el esclavo a recordar su tierra. El landó es la lloranza del negro esclavo – como decir ‘te extraño’ a la tierra."
The landó is a bit slower than the festejo, although both contain a prominent beat from the cajón. Festejos, her most festive songs of all, were meant for celebrations. They trigger quick dance movements by the body, like a sensual communication between the dancers. "Ingá," and "Le dije a Papá" are some famous festejos.
For the performance, Eva’s voice was backed-up by a cajón, congos, bongo, piano, electronic bass, and a guitar. She was also accompanied by two back up singers: her sister Rosa Ayllón and Brazilian Sofia Buitrón. Buitrón and Eva danced a fiery festejo during the show – the two of them imitating each others’ rapid undulating torso and leg movements.
In addition to landós and festejos, Eva also sings the much slower and romantic vals. "Cuando llora mi Guitarra" and "Que Somos Amantes" are examples of this genre derived from the Viennese waltz but with Spanish guitar riffs, and boleros. Eva further demonstrated her romantic side during the show by throwing rose stems to the audience.
All her songs are unique for her, she says, "Todas tienen un gran significado. Son como mis hijas." Eva conveys the love she has for her songs during her performances. She is a passionate woman who feels what she sings, as if the lyrics were flowing out of her heart.
Eva was born María Angélica Ayllón Urbina in 1956. She started her singing career at the early age of three under her grandmother’s tutelage. Ayllón adopted "Eva" from her grandmother. She didn’t come from a musical family, "Siento que [mi talento] fue reincarnada de alguien o de muchas personas. Yo creo mucho en la reincarnación," she says.
Ayllón started out singing at school competitions. Soon after, she worked her way up to television and radio. By the 1970’s, she was appearing in the local peñas criollas (a gathering of musicians, typical in South America). From 1973 to 1975, she was the lead singer in the trio Los Kipus, and in 1978, she debuted as a soloist with the release of Esta Noche. By 1979, she began touring internationally, all over Europe, the United States, Canada, and Japan. And in 1989, she sang in Los Hijos del Sol, a group comprised of all-star Peruvian musicians including master drummer Alex Acuña. By 2002, with over 20 albums in her discography, she received her eighth award for achieving double platinum status for the album, 30 Años en Vivo (2000).
Ayllón left her beloved Peru and moved to New Jersey six months ago to be with her family. "Todo es alla para mi, dentro de mi pais, pero el amor te arranca a cualquier tierra," says Eva.
Judging from her adoring fans, Eva has been most-heartily welcomed to the U.S. Her message to all of them: "Que se sienten feliz, y que yo traigo un poco de Peru…que se recuerden sus calles, sus casas, sus camas…"
(Published in NYRemezcla.com)
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