Times Square Records
2008
Zamba Malato
About This Album
Peru Negro was unknown in the United States until 1995, when David Byrne's Luaka Bop label released The Soul of Black Peru compilation. The album tracks by Peru Negro were marked by the relentless rhythms of the cajón, a specially constructed wooden box that produced a booming bass drum-like sound, strong melodies, and exuberant call and response vocals that echoed the music's African, Latin, and European origins. It introduced North Americans to a group that was already a sensation on the European and Latin American festival circuit.

Afro-Peruvian music owes part of its unique character to events that happened 200 years ago, thousands of miles to the north. When Haitian slaves defeated the French and created the Republic of Haiti in 1803, the Spanish government in Peru rightly believed the common language of Haitian slaves aided their liberation struggle. To dilute African culture, the Spanish in Peru imported slaves from all over Africa as well as Catholic, Spanish speaking slaves from Cuba and Columbia. They also outlawed the drum. Deprived of their ancient traditions, the blacks of Afro-Peru created a new one. The banned drums were replaced by new percussion instruments. The cajón -- originally a fruit crate -- is now a carefully designed rectangular box, with a booming low end.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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