About six months after my first trip to
Perú, visiting the Afro-Peruvian cultural hub of El Carmen, and hanging
out in the Barranco District of Lima, where many Afro-Peruvians work and
perform for a living, I then happened to stumble on a CD by
Afro-Peruvian singer Pepe Vázquez, which contained the hit song “No
Valentín,”and that song, to this day, became a hit with me. In fact, he wrote the song, and the famous Susana Baca sung it. However,
about six months after my trip, I was delighted to have met Pepe
Vázquez, and had a brief conversation with him before his performance at the Fina Estampa
Restaurant in San Francisco. He even gave me some dap when he came out singing.
On the Pacific coast of Peru, a Black music
culture has survived
in spite of repression by the Europeans. Drums and marimbas were
forbidden
because they "generate trance-like states and are the work of the
devil." As a substitute, unique instruments were created out of everyday
materials and developed into unique instruments, such as the cajon (a
wooden box) and the jawbone of an ass, that have remained a staple of
Afro-Peruvian rhythm.
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