Afro-Peruvian jazz is an integral part of Latin jazz, a blend of traditional Afro-Peruvian rhythms and a penchant for improvisation, with the New York jazz scene of the 1980s and beyond.

Guitarist Richard Zellon is generally credited with introducing this particular form of jazz to the United States. Another important figure is the trumpeter Gabriel Alegría. Both, as well as most of the other musicians who play this music, are Peruvian but are not of African descent.

For Peruvians of African descent involved in jazz, they might like to look at singers Susana Baca and Eva Ayllon.

But maybe we should start at the beginning.

Most people agree that jazz is a musical form that grew out of the experience of Africans in the United States, an experience that included slavery, discrimination, and other hardships; but unlike blues, jazz has a generally optimistic outlook on life. is vibrant. Often is cheerful. It’s fun.

Also, rhythm and improvisation are key elements in jazz. And if you accept that jazz grew largely out of the black experience, then it’s clear that a lot of those rhythms came from Africa.

Originally, jazz was considered something that “belonged” to the United States. It was thought to be a form of “American” music, where “American” referred to the United States of America.

But since the late 1940s, when Dizzie Gillespie, working with Chano Pozo and Mario Bauza, introduced the world to Afro-Cuban jazz, jazz has become more international. More and more musicians began to combine the sound and rhythms of traditional Latin American rhythms with (North American) jazz. afro-Cuban jazz was soon joined by Cuban jazz, Puerto Rican jazz, Afro-Brazilian jazz and then Afro-Peruvian jazz. All of these together are what is now known as Latin jazz.

Again, each of these forms of Latin jazz seems to have started when musicians from Latin American countries came to New York and began making music with New York musicians, transforming their traditional music into a new form of jazz.

Thus it was that in the 1980s and especially from the year 2000, Peruvian musicians from New York began to develop Afro-Peruvian jazz from the traditional music of Afro-descendant Peruvians. This traditional music is lively, has complex rhythms, allows for improvisational riffs, and has brought several important percussion instruments to the world, including the donkey jaw (the jawbone of a donkey) and the Peruvian drawer (unlike the Cuban drawer).

I find it fascinating that the musicians who are the main proponents of Afro-Peruvian jazz are not black, in other words, they are not people of African descent.

However, this is not true for singers. Several well-known singers from the Afro-Peruvian community who grew up on their traditional songs have now begun to include jazz in their repertoire. These mainly include the women we mentioned above, Susana Baca (who is not only an excellent and well-known singer, but for a few months in mid-2011 was Peru’s Minister of Culture) and Eva Ayllon (lead singer of Peru Negro, a of the oldest and most prestigious Afro-Peruvian groups).

The connection between Afro-Peruvian jazz and traditional Afro-Peruvian music is important, and that traditional music deserves to be better known in the United States. In addition to groups such as Perú Negro, several people stand out for their work in preserving and disseminating the tradition.

In Peru itself, Amador Ballumbrosio and Caitro Soto are among the best known, although they approached it from very different perspectives. Amador Ballumbrosio, a dancer and violinist from the town of El Carmen, was mainly concerned with maintaining the stomping (footwork used as percussion) and the dance and music involved in something called the black hat, traditionally held on December 24 in honor of baby Jesus. Caitro Soto, a fantastic drummer from Lima (the capital of Peru), was more concerned with Afro-Peruvian music in general.

In terms of making the tradition known internationally, in the current period, Lalo Izquierdo takes on special importance. He is an exceptionally good percussionist and dancer who has given master classes and performed in North and South America, as well as Europe, to bring this tradition to the world’s attention. In recognition of his talent and contribution, he has recently been appointed to be the Director of the Institute of Cultural Expression of the Afro-Peruvian Studies Division at the National Afro-Peruvian Museum.

We believe that it is vitally important to maintain this traditional music and the dances that accompany it. Both for its intrinsic value and for being a source of inspiration and an essential element in the richness of Afro-Peruvian jazz. And that form of jazz, descended from traditional Afro-Peruvian music and the New York jazz scene, is a worthy addition to the Latin jazz family!