Album Features Keyboardists Russell Ferrante and Arturo O’Farril
Gabriel Alegría & The Afro-Peruvian Sextet - Pucusana
The growling clarion call evokes old jazz, Louis Armstrong, and New Orleans, but the cries in Spanish, the percussion, and the gentle, looping groove takes us to a different place. Both familiar and fresh, those first bars on Peruvian trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Gabriel Alegría’s Pucusana, are also a declaration of principle of Afro-Peruvian jazz music.
“Taita Guaranguito,” is a traditional Afro-Peruvian folk song, smartly reinterpreted as a jazz piece. In fusion, the sum is often less than the parts. Here, it’s a celebration of a common spirit. “What we discovered over the years working in this music, is that there is a certain similar energy between pre-1940s jazz and Afro-Peruvian music,” says Alegría. “There is a connection, something about their spirit, so when you [bring them together], it feels really natural. We don’t play in a traditional jazz style, but it’s not about harmonies or a certain rhythm. It’s about the intention in the playing. There is a joy, a positive energy, that is present in the jazz esthetic of musicians like Louis Armstrong. This same esthetic is also present in Afro-Peruvian music.” Continue reading
theurbanflux.wordpress.com 